Notice Me
by takeme2thestars
Summary: Riley has always been in the background in her family thanks to her older sister Vanessa. What happens when Vanessa moves back home and brings her new fiancée, Joe Jonas, along? Riley and Joe start a secret yet dangerous relationship. Title by Kari Kimmel
1. Do Something Crazy

Every possible hue of red, orange, and purple streaked the sky in huge blotches. Already I could see the outline of birds in the horizon chirping about already anticipating this new day. I shuddered a bit and pulled the blanket tighter across me trying to regain some of my fleeing body heat and to cling to yesterday. Not that it was an amazing day or anything, but it would be better than what this day holds. I envied the birds for their joy and excitement. Nothing could make me want this day. I sighed and got up to get ready for my daily run with my Father. I slipped off my pajamas and got into my usual running attire, black yoga pants, a plain white tee, and my field hockey sweatshirt. I laced up my shoes and went down stairs to the kitchen. The clanking of jars clued me into the fact my Father was already up and waiting for me.

"Good morning Daddy." He jumped and a couple more clanks of glass was heard. He faced me and I saw him with a pastry in one hand and a Propel bottle in the other. He doesn't really understand the concept of diets.

"Good morning Riley," he said in between bites of his danish. "Ready for our run?" I nodded as I grabbed a water bottle. Silently we walked out to the corner and stood their stretching for a few minutes. In a silent agreement we took off on our neighborhood jog. An hour and about 5 miles later we were walking the last block home.

"Do. You. Have. An outfit for. Tonight?" He said as he gasped for air. And like that, I was snapped back into why I would despise this day.

"Do I need a new outfit?" I couldn't help but notice the edge in my voice.

"Yes you do. It's not everyday that Vanessa comes into town and introduces us to her new fiancée. I'll give you the credit card before you leave for school. Go pick up something modest to wear and be back home before 6:00. We are meeting them at Tao around 6:30." I nodded.

Just like that I was pushed to the background. No longer was I on the road to becoming the daughter they were proud of. I was just someone who lived in their house that would never amount to their amazing first-born. Vanessa, my older sister, was perfect in every aspect of life. Then and now. She took advanced classes, internships, did charity work, was on the swimming team, was valedictorian, and got into the school of her dreams, UCLA. Now she got a job in town with a high-class firm and is engaged to someone she describes as male-version of herself. Lucky me. I gazed into the mirror and was looking for something in me that would make others proud. I wasn't beautiful, but I was pretty. I have life-less dark blonde hair, plain green eyes, a permanent tan from field hockey, and boring clothing choices. I always wear my signature outfit, a pencil skirt with a cardigan. I had straight A's, but those couldn't beat Vanessa's. I was an okay field hockey player, definitely not a champion swimmer. Nothing I could do could make even me proud. I sighed and grabbed my book bag.

_I really need to reorganize my locker. _I moved around my a.p. books to look for the novel we are reading in English. From down the hall I could hear loud nasally laughing and knew instantly it was my close friend Hannah. We've been friends since junior high when we discovered we both loved Harry Potter. Back then things were easier in our friendship. All we worried about was who had the 5th book or who ate the last slice of pizza. But as we grew up she drifted more towards boys and make-up while I stayed close to my familiar books and sports. But, somehow we still managed to be friends, even if her increasing social life hindered us.

"Hey Riley!" She leaned up against a locker as Nate, her boyfriend, slipped an arm around her tiny waist.

"Hi Hannah. Hi Nate." I gave them both a smile as I grabbed _Their Eyes Were Watching God_ and my English notebook. "So Hannah are you free today after school? My Dad gave me the credit card to buy a new outfit and I could use your help." I closed my locker to reveal a sad expression on her face.

"I'm sorry. I kinda made plans to go out for fro yo with Nate." Her big blue eyes sympathized with me.

"It's okay." Now her eyes questioned me. "It's fine! I swear." I put on a fake smile and pushed the feeling of hurt to the back of my heart. "I'll choose something on my own." The bell rang and Nate gave her a peck on the cheek and went off to class. Hannah walked with me to class.

"Okay, but feel free to call me if you need help deciding between things. And choose an outfit that stands out."

"What?"

"Don't hate me Riley, but you choose boring outfits. Things that put you in the background." _Ouch._ "Choose something that will put at least a little bit of Vanessa's attention on to you. Go crazy!" She giggled and we sat down in our assigned seats.

Me go crazy? That's going to happen when the U.S. wins the World Cup.

* * *

It's kind of a slow start, but go easy on me. It's my first story in a LONG time. Hope you guys like it. -xoxo Danica :)


	2. Bumping into Strangers

_Who knew a mall could be so empty after school? _The mall was missing it's popular teen shoppers but had a few middle-age couples out and about. It made me stick out like a sore thumb. Seems like I'm not in the background this time. I couldn't get over what Hannah told me. Is it that obvious I just fade into my surroundings? All I could think about was that as I walked down the aisles of the department store. I had a plain white button up blouse in my hands. _"You choose boring outfits." _I glanced down at the shirt I was going to pair with black slacks. _"Go crazy!" _I put the shirt back and went up a level to a hip new store. I walked in and already saw the shirt that would help me go semi-crazy. It was a lace tank accented with metallic flowers and a ruffle. I could live without the ruffle, but overall it was something I would never pick. For that same reason I bought it along with a tan sweater. My Father wanted a modest outfit so I thought the sweater got the modest part covered.

I stood in front of the mirror in my room. If only Hannah could see me now. I shook my head and watched my wavy hair fall onto my shoulders like it was styled that way. I paired the cream tank with dark-washed skinny jeans and red-brown boots I received for last Christmas. I don't think I'll be in the background at all tonight. For the first time in a long time I could look in the mirror and be happy with what I saw. With a smile plastered across my face I headed downstairs to meet my parents. They were all around the living room. My Mother was pacing trying to put her pearl earrings in and my Father was fiddling with his silk tie in the mirror.

"We're going to be later Arthur. Your tie looks great. We can't keep Vanessa waiting. Riley!" Her expression changed as she saw me. It turned into relief. "There you are. We're running _very _late. I hope Vanessa isn't there already." I gulped back bitterness as she noticed nothing. Neither did my Father. We all piled into the car and sped away to Tao to make sure we didn't keep Princess Vanessa waiting. All during the ride I focused on the song on the radio and drowned out my parents' mindless chatter about work and clients. We got to Tao and left the car with the valet. Right before we walked in, I got a call from Hannah.

"I'll meet you guys inside."

"Hurry." My mother flashed me a look and took my Father's arm was they walked in together like the loving couple they are. Or are not, depends on whose story you get.

"Hannah?"

"Riley! Hey!" Even on the phone she's incredibly bubbly. "I meant to call you earlier, but I got sidetracked. I ended up reading a whole chapter in _Watching God_ by talking in a country accent. It makes it go by faster."

"That's great Hannah," I couldn't help but laugh, "Do you have something else to say cause I've gotta go inside. We're already late for-"

"That's why I called you silly!" I laughed again and paced by the entrance. "How'd the outfit shopping go?" My happy mood dampened.

"Okay. I got a metallic flowery tank."

"Really! I need to see pics! So did you go crazy? I bet you look hot." _Tell that to my parents. The crazy part, not the hot part. _

"I'll take a picture later. And I guess I didn't go crazy enough. I'm still in the background." My tone got much sadder.

"Riley, don't say that. You know you're the lead singer in my mind." I couldn't help but smile. Hannah, though bubbly and naive knew how to cheer me up.

"I love you Hannah. I'll send you a pic later. Text me if you have anything to say. I'm sure I can get away with a few sneaked texts."

"Kay Ri! Love you babe!" The phone line clicked and I smiled down to my phone. I stood by the door waiting to get the courage to get in. I stepped in front of the door just to be run into. It caught me off guard so I landed straight on my butt.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry!" A hand reached down to help me. I took it and dusted myself off.

"It's okay." _That's a lie. _I looked up only to feel like falling again. A young and very cute guy was standing in front of me wearing an expression of concern. _The cute part is Not a lie. _

"Sorry I was in a rush. I forgot my wallet in the car." He relaxed a little and we gazed at each other. He had his jet black hair styled like he just woke up. Messy, but in a sense, styled. He was wearing jeans and a button up white shirt under his leather jacket. So in one word, he looked cute.

"It's fine. I was working up the courage to go to my family dinner."

"That even sounds bad."

"I know. Well I better go in and listen to my sister talk about her wonderful life."

"Good luck." He flashed me a smile.

"Thanks." _I'll need it. _He opened the door and gave him another thank you. I scanned the restaurant and found my family sitting in a corner table. I saw Vanessa smile and wave to me. _Is she being nice to me?_ I gave her an awkward wave and walked to her. She met my eyes and gave me a glare. _Okay, that's the Vanessa I know. _I stopped again as I wondered who she was waving to. Then next thing I know I someone ran into me again.

"We really need to stop doing this." I turned around to see the cute guy smirking at me.

"Well, you should watch where you're going."

"Well, you need to stop, randomly stopping while walking."

"Whatever."

"There you are." Vanessa said with a sweet tone.

"Hi Vanessa." Both the guy and I said this. We looked at each other with a shocked look.

"You know Vanessa?" He said with a confused expression. I nodded and returned the same look.

"Joe, sweetie. I see you met my little sister Riley." She gave me a cold stare.

"Little sister?"

"Sweetie?" I whispered.

"What took you guys so long? We already ordered dinner. I got you the steak Joey. Mom ordered you the Kung Pao chicken. She said it's your favorite."

"I actually like the orange chicken." She shrugged her shoulders and fixed Joe's collar.

"Come on. Don't want to keep Mommy and Daddy waiting." She gave him a dazzling smile and led us to the table.

So the cute guy turned out to be Vanessa's fiancée. But he seems nothing like her. He seems, nice. I guess this dinner just got a lot more interesting.

* * *

Ooo! So Joe and Vanessa are introduced in this chapter. What do you think of them? Seems like Riley might have a thing for Joe. I wonder how this family dinner is going to go now... -xoxo Danica :)


	3. Starry Nights

"Mommy, Daddy. I want you to meet the love of my life." Vanessa beamed as she intertwined her hand with Joe's. I tried my hardest to hold back a gagging noise as I sat down.

"Most people call me Joe." He greeted my parents with a firm handshake and a brilliant smile. "It's an honor to finally meet Vanessa's family. Sorry I was running late though."

"Its fine Joe, we also were running a bit behind too." Though he had a smile on his face my Father sent me a look. _That was so not my fault. _I slouched against my seat as they finished introductions. I tuned them out until I heard Vanessa mention me.

"Seems you already meet my adorable little sister." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Yeah," Joe smirked and took the open seat next to me. "Nice to get formally introduced." He held out his hand and I reluctantly took it.

"Same. I'm so-"

"Joe, Vanessa told us you're a medical student." Joe gave me sympathetic smile as my Father cut me off bluntly.

"Um, yeah," He cleared his throat, "I'm almost done with my studies. UCLA has a great medical program."

"Any ideas on if you want to specialize in something?" My Father pursed his lips together in thought.

"I don't know I'm so-"

"He's stuck between sports medicine and pediatrics." Vanessa cut in with a smile. Joe nodded his agreement and let her prattle on and on about his life. I slumped against the chair in frustration and sighed. _Here's to being in the background. _The dinner conversation mostly consisted of Joe and Vanessa. I took a sip out of water glass when I heard my name.

"So Riley are you excited to have me back at home?" _Back Home?_ I choked on my water and began coughing.

"You're coming back home?" I said in a hoarse voice. Vanessa flashed me that smile I've seen hundreds of times before.

"Yes. Our townhouse is being renovated and Mommy offered us the guest house." _The guest house?_

_"_What? I was promised the guest house for my senior year. I did everything they told me to do to ensure I got it."

"Well, there's no other place to stay."

"How about my room?" I spat out a bit louder than intended.

"Riley," She sent me a glare; "Joe and I are a couple. We need our space."

"If you really need the space then why did you move back in with Mommy and Daddy?"

"Riley!" _Mommy_ gasped, "Stop arguing with your sister. They need a place to stay and we are not letting them stay in some cheap motel. We'll find some way to make this up to you." _Doubt it. _I was still fuming when the server came to deliver our food. Vanessa seems to show up in my life at the most inopportune moments.

"Now who ordered the waldorf salad?" The server asked with a thick Hispanic accent.

"That's Riley's," Vanessa pointed at me, "Mom ordered you the chicken, but I figured a girl with your body needs a salad."

"My body?"

"Yes. You have a body that has a tendency to get a bit...chunky. You'll thank me later. I mean field hockey season is just around the corner." Everyone at the table laughed but Joe. I saw him give Vanessa a look she clearly ignored. _I guess he's never seen the bt&hy side of her before. _I held back some tears and speared a few of my leafy greens praying that this dinner would be over soon.

The minute I got home I practically ran into my room to get rid of the clothes I was wearing. Even though they had nothing to do with what Vanessa did or said, I felt disappointed with them. And me. Mostly me. I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and changed into the comfort of my pajamas. I sat on my bed going over and over what Vanessa said. It hurt more now. I got fed up with feeling sorry for myself and went downstairs to read on the porch swing. _I swear I've read this paragraph 5 times._ I shook my head in frustration and switched reading for star-gazing.

"I think a starry sky beats an old novel any day." The swing creaked under the new weight added to it.

"What if the novel is about stars?" I heard a deep laugh.

"Well then that changes things. I still prefer the real thing," He said with a smile on his face. The smile quickly vanished when he saw my expression. "Are you okay Riley?" I focused back on the stars refusing to face him. "I'm taking that as a no. Am I right?" I nodded. "I can't apologize for what Vanessa said because only she can do that. I can say I'm sorry you feel hurt. I understand sibling fights, believe me I have 3 brothers," He smiled and quickly frowned when he saw his lame joke couldn't effect me, "Anyways. What Vanessa said crossed a line. You know it. I know it. I'm sure she knows it. Riley can you look at me?"

"I can't." My voice didn't sound as strong as I hoped it would.

"Why?"

"I hate when people see me cry." A sob escaped from me.

"Oh Riley." Before I could say or do anything else, Joe embraced me in a hug. I buried my head into his warm chest letting myself cry. "It's okay," He murmured as he ran a hand up and down my back. "I'm so sorry." A few minutes later all my tears stopped and I let myself face Joe.

"I'm sorry. I usually don't do that." I couldn't help but feel nervous when I gazed into his eyes. They lit up instantly.

"Are you apologizing for crying? Something everyone does naturally?"

"I guess so," I laughed a little and Joe just smiled.

"You shouldn't be apologizing for anything."

"I think I need to apol-"

"No apologies. People should apologize to you. Not the other way around." I couldn't help but notice Joe had his arms wrapped around me and I had one arm wrapped around his torso and the other one resting against his chest. _Why does it feel normal to be like this? I'm practically in his lap and neither of us care._ "Riley you are a sweet and beautiful girl. No matter what your sister says she can't change that about you. She can say hurtful comments to bring you down, but in the end people still care for you. Even if it doesn't seem like it." I couldn't help but smile.

"How is it you've known me for a day, but you seem to understand me better than my own parents?"

"I don't know. I guess we have a connection." We both grinned at that. We stared at each other for awhile and we both knew what we wanted. ._Don't kiss him. Do NOT kiss him. He's Vanessa's fiancé. Don't kiss him. _He leaned in and at the last second kissed my cheek. "It's getting late Riley." He sounded pained, like that wasn't what he wanted. _I didn't want that either. I wanted much more. _We let each other go and the swing creaked as he got off. "Goodnight Riley."

"Goodnight Joe." He proceeded to walk towards the backyard, but he stopped in his tracks._ And he criticized me for doing that. _

"And Riley?" He turned his head to see me, "You weren't in the background." _What? _"You were the only person who stood out in my mind." With that comment he took off leaving me speechless.

So Joe overheard my phone conversation with Hannah. He also let me cry on his shoulder. Most importantly he said I stood out. All of this ran through my mind but one thing I kept repeating in my head. What if he didn't hesitate at the last minute and kissed me on the lips. Would I have kissed back? _Yes._ Would I have enjoyed it? _Of course. _Would I feel guilty? _Heck no. _Did Joe actually want to kiss me? _That my friend is the question. _

* * *

Riley and Joe almost kissed! Seems like they both have a thing for each other. Too bad he's engaged to her sister. I wonder what's going to happen next... -xoxo Danica :) P.S. I hope you guys like this story as much as I do. Love you guys :)))))


	4. Who Doesn't Love Bubbles?

My house soon fell into its usual pattern from before Vanessa went to college. I still went on my daily runs with my Father and we all had dinner together every night. The conversation now seemed to revolve around everyone especially Joe and his horror stories of med school. I can't complain though, his stories were a nice escape from Vanessa and her amazing life. I haven't really been alone with Joe since the night on the porch. I know we crossed a line and now we were getting used to each other as relatives. Everyday I could see why Vanessa chose Joe. He is a great guy. He's funny, smart, caring, and a great musician. _And totally unavailable._

About a month after Vanessa came home, I was moving about the kitchen getting the dishes served and ready. Mom made some of her flank steak and I was dishing it out for everyone. Only Joe and my Dad ate the steak alone with hearty sides, the girls ate pieces of it mixed in with a salad. According to Vanessa, "No one was going to be fat in her wedding." I felt like a waitress handing out plates as they sat together already talking about Dad's crazy client.

"Then instead of taking her pills, she took some of my M&M's!" The table burst into laughter as I slipped into my seat next to Joe. He flashed me as small grin and I smiled. "So Joe any stories for us today?" We all looked at Joe as he took a sip of his wine.

"Not today. We were stuck inside all day doing paperwork. I almost went mad with boredom."

"That makes two of us," I heard myself saying. Everyone was watching me now. Joe gave me slight nod signaling for me to continue. "Usually English is fun, but today Mr. Drake decided to lecture on how _Hard Times_ relate to teens today. He wouldn't stop talking about it. We'd ask him a question and he'd get it back to Charles Dickens even though we are learning about Steinbeck."

"Steinbeck. That's a great author. In my opinion better than Dickens," Joe said in between bites of steak. "Dickens is much too dry for my taste."

"Really? Me too. I really hate reading his books. Plus I read a biography on him and he was a jerk. Just that put me off his-"

"Guess what?" Vanessa interrupted the conversation I had with Joe.

"What sweetie?" Mom said as she took a sip out of her glass.

"Erica and I figured out what color the bridesmaids dresses are going to be," She took a dramatic pause, "Teal! It's such an amazing color isn't it?" I nodded my response and went back to my bland salad and bland dinner conversations. While Vanessa spoke about her boss' obsession with yellow cars, I went to the kitchen to get the brownies I made for dessert.

"I made brownies for dessert. Anybody want some?" I held out my chocolate heaven for everyone to see.

"Are they fat-free?" Vanessa eyed them as if they were evil.

"That's what the recipe said."

"No thank you," She turned to smile at me, "I don't want to get fat. I don't think anyone else does either." My parents nodded and Vanessa gave me the look I know like the back of my hand. "Make sure to eat only one Ri. I'm planning on your dress size to stay a 6 or lower until the wedding." With that she left with my parents to do what ever they do.

"I'll have one," Joe spoke up. I gave him a weak smile and dished us out two picture perfect brownies.

"You don't have to eat it. I'm sure you're watching your figure too." I sat back in my seat.

"No, I want to eat it." He grinned. "I'm sure this won't hurt." We sat in silence taking bites of brownie. "Riley. This. Is. Amazing." We both laughed and I saw he had chocolate smeared on his cheek.

"I guess you really do like it. It's even on your cheek," I licked my thumb and rubbed the remaining chocolate off his cheek.

"Thanks. For the brownies. And," He pointed to his now clean cheek.

"No problem. But if you want to make it to me..." He nodded. "Want to help me do the dishes? I hate doing them, but everyone assumes I'll do it."

"Sure. I'd help a fellow Steinbeck lover." I moved everything to the counter as Joe ran the water to fill the sink. "You wash? I dry?" I nodded in response as I pulled my hair into a messy bun. I dunked my hands into the warm soapy water.

"I think this is my favorite part."

"What?"

"The bubbles!" I smiled as I blew some of them off my hand and back into water.

"Said like a mature teenager." Joe grinned as he placed a dish towel over his shoulder.

"I am a teenager. I have my whole life to be mature and boring." I washed and rinsed a couple plates and handed them to Joe.

"You boring? I don't think that can happen."

"Then you really don't know me."

"Well I know you enough that if I do this you'll go crazy." I raised an eyebrow and glanced at Joe just in time to see him throw a glob of bubbles at me.

"No fair Joe!" I laughed as I removed bubble from my eyes. "You started a war." I threw bubbles at his face. We started laughing and just threw bubbles everywhere. "Okay. Okay! Truce. Truce!" By this time I had bubbles in my hair, on my face, and on my shirt. Joe looked exactly the same.

"Fine, truce. I so would have won though." Joe smirked through a thick layer of bubbles.

"Really?" I moved closer to him. We must have spilled water on the floor because I slipped and fell straight into Joe's arms.

"Are you okay?" He had one hand on my lower back keeping me steady and his other hand went up to my face to remove some of the bubbles.

"Yeah. Water on floor. Slipped." I couldn't form sentences because my heart was thumping so loud I could barely think.

"This is why I doubt there are boring moments in your life." Joe smiled and I bit my lip in response. _We are so close. I should just go upstairs and say I need to wash this off. Or better yet, Joe should go. He's the one who's engag-. _I gazed into his brown eyes. _He's the one who's totally gorgeous even if he's covered in bubbles._ "You have some bubbles on your face." I shot him a 'no duh' look. "Let me help you with that." He leaned in and placed a sweet kiss on my lips. _HE KISSED ME. _He broke the kiss and scanned my face looking for my response. All I did was smile. "I think I missed a spot." I nodded as his lips brushed against mine for the second time. He kissed me and I kissed him back. _I'm going to hell for this. I'm kissing my sister's fiancée and if she finds out. What if she is watching us right now? Oh my God. I'm so dead. She's going to murder me. What if- SHUT UP. _I silenced my thoughts and wrapped my arms around Joe's neck. He deepened the kiss as I ran my hand through his now wavy and wet locks.

"Joe?" _Crap. _We pulled away and I instantly missed his arms around me and his lips on mine. "Joe? Where are you?" Vanessa's voice rang through the house. I felt my cheeks grow hot as I got back to washing the dishes and Joe cleaned all the bubbles off of him and the counters.

"In. In here." His voice cracked a bit.

"There you are!" She smiled as she walked into the kitchen. "I was wondering what took you so long." She gave him a hug as Joe gave her a nervous smile. "Why are you wet?"

_"_I was helping Riley do dishes. I think the dish towel isn't as wet as my sweater is."

"Okay. Well come on. We need to go over some details about the wedding." _Wedding? _I focused on washing the frying pan. If she saw my expression she would know what happened.

"Do we have to do that tonight babe?"

"Yes. It's Wednesday. You promised Wednesdays would be our planning day. Come on." She grabbed his hand and led him out to the guest house. "Goodnight Riley. Remember size 6!"

* * *

Things are definitely heating up between these two and Vanessa has no idea. Who do you think Joe is better off with? -Danica


	5. Hott with 2 t's!

"So how's the hunk of man that your sister is engaged to?" Hannah said as she leaned against the lockers like she did everyday.

"What?" I shot her a nervous look. I've been jumpy since what happened last night with Joe. _I know it was mistake. He didn't mean to kiss me._ "Joe? He's okay. He's busy with med school." I felt horrible not telling Hannah what happened. But it was a mistake. I know that and I'm sure Joe knows that too.

"Med school? Sounds boring." She this with such disgust it made me laugh.

"Whatever. It keeps him busy and it means stories at dinner about crazy people." We smiled as I closed my locker and went off to English.

"So Ri, are you going to homecoming tomorrow night?"

_"_It's tomorrow?" I slipped into the desk next to the one Hannah chose.

_"_Yeah! I'm going with Chad Barker."

_"_Quarterback Chad?" She nodded happily. "What about Nate?"

"We broke up. He's way too naive for me." Hannah nodded as she stared out into the distance. "Anyways Chad said Travis. You know Travis? Tall, blonde, smart. You know like a male version of you? Well Chad said Travis needs a date. Do you want to go with him?"

"I, umm. I'm not sure. It's short notice. And I don't have a dress or anything."

"It's called short-notice shopping. We can go shopping after-school today and tomorrow we can go to your house. You have the best bathroom and room to get ready in. We can get ready there and then Chad and Travis can come pick us up. Travis has your ticket too." I gave her an uneasy look. "Come on Ri! It's going to be fun! Plus there's a huge party afterwards at Chad's Aunt's cabin. It won't be fun without you." She gave me her puppy dog look.

"Okay. Tell Travis I'll go with him."

"Yay! I can't wait." Hannah clapped her hands and just beamed.

As soon as the bell rang signaling the end of school Hannah made a bee-line to my locker. We made small talk about our day until we were out of school boundaries and in the mall.

"This is where I got my dress. The dresses are amazing here. And they aren't super expensive either." _I love you Hannah. You always brighten my day. _I smiled at her as we went inside and browsed the racks. I let Hannah do all the work because I know she would anyway. "How 'bout this?" She held out a yellow dress.

"Too yellow."

"This?"

"Too red."

"This?"

"Too," I hesitated a bit and saw that the dress was amazing, "Perfect." I grabbed the dress she chose and went off into the dressing room. _This is definitely my kind of dress. _

"You look hot. With two ts." Hannah beamed as she held out two manicured fingers.

"So do you!" I looked into the mirror and saw Hannah and I dressed up to perfection for the dance tonight. She had a gorgeous purple dress on that showed off every great part about her body. I paled in comparison in my white cocktail dress. It was beautiful with the faint flower fabric in the skirt and Hannah paired it up with bright blue bangles and a tri-colored wooden necklace. Hannah looked beautiful and so did I. "Thank you Hannah."

"For what silly?" She smiled as she applied a layer of shiny lip gloss.

"For convincing me to go tonight. And for the outfit. And the hair. And the accessories. And the date. For everything about tonight."

"Aww, Ri-ri!" We hugged carefully trying not to ruin our outfits and our hair. "No problem. You need a night out anyways! I'm going to go curl my hair again. It keeps getting undone. This is when I envy your hair." With that she went into the bathroom and I went to find the necklace I still needed to put on. As soon as I found it under my pillow of all places I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in." I ripped the price tag off the necklace and threw it away.

"Wow." I turned around quickly to see Joe staring at me. "You look beautiful," He smiled.

"Thank you."

"Do you need help?" He nodded towards the clasp on the necklace. I nodded as he crossed the room and grabbed it. I lifted up my hair gingerly and he placed it around my neck. "There you go."

"Thank you."

"Welcome." He was still standing behind me. "Riley, can we talk?"

"About what?" I turned around to face him and show him even though the kiss was amazing it was a mistake and not to be brought up. He looked a bit hurt, but he smiled nervously anyways.

"Nothing. Have fun tonight. If anything happens don't hesitate to call me. I'd be there in a heartbeat." I nodded and he hugged me gently. And with that he left.

A few minutes later Travis and Chad arrived and we went off to the dance. Before this night I never hung out with Travis and I figured out why. All during the dance he ignored me and flirted shamelessly with every single girl. After they shot him down he'd come back to me and complain. I danced with him once and that was way too much. He's very touchy if you catch my drift. It got so much worse as soon as we went to his aunt's cabin. He got drunk in the first hour we were there. I lost Hannah and Chad and knew I wouldn't get a ride home from Travis. Plus, Travis wasn't Travis. He was Wolverine and he was dancing on the table to Ke$ha's _Your Love is My Drug. This is my idiotic date. I love Hannah, but I'm never going out with someone she suggests anymore. _I left Wolverine and my other drunken classmates to go outside and escape the music and noise. I got my cell out and dialed Joe's number.

"Riley?" He sounded worried.

"Joe? Sorry I'm calling. Everything is okay. I just need a ride home. I lost Hannah and my date is drunk."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Apparently I went on a date with Wolverine tonight." We both laughed.

"Where are you?" I spun around to try to find the address on the house.

"1564 North Cherry Blossom. It's up by the lake."

"1564 North Cherry Blossom? Got it. I'm leaving right now. I'll see you soon."

"Okay. Thank you Joe."

"No problem Riley." We hung up and I sat on the steps of the house. It was getting cold so I wrapped my arms around me for warmth. I heard something move in the bushes by the woods. I gulped and got up slowly.

"Anybody out there?" I walked towards the sound and I saw Nate stumble out, obviously drunk. "Nate? What are you doing here?"

"Having fun Riley. How about you?" He stumbled towards me and I could smell the alcohol.

"I'm leaving. Everyone is drunk and so are you. Maybe you should go inside and lay down or something."

"I don't need to go inside and see Hannah making out with that meathead Chad. Maybe we should go inside together. Show her how it feels to be jealous." He ran a dirty finger across my cheek.

"I can't my ride is going to be here soon."

"So. It's not going to take a long time."

"It's okay." He wrapped his arms around my waist. I tried to squirm out of his hands but he locked them tightly around me. "Let go of me Nate."

"I can't do that. You know why?" I shook my head. "Cause you look amazing tonight. I just can't help but kiss you." He pressed his mouth against mine and I shoved him.

"Stop Nate. I don't want to do this."

"You know you want to. I bet you're still a virgin." My cheeks reddened a bit. "You are! I can take care of that right now." He replaced his hands on my waist.

"No! Nate let go!" I struggled against him. He just laughed and slapped me. It caught me off guard and I fell onto the dirt. He got on top of me and ran his hand up and down my thigh raising my dress up higher. "Nate stop. Please!" I cried.

"I love when they scream my name." He tried kissing me again but I turned my head. "Riley, don't play games with me." He slapped me hard, again. He pushed his mouth on top of mine. He forced his tongue into my mouth and I felt myself gag.

"Riley?" _Joe!_ Nate stopped 'kissing' me for just enough time for me to scream Joe's name and a simple request. _Help. _"Get off of her." Joe's voice changed to hard and cold. _He's angry. _Joe pulled Nate off of me and held him down on the floor. I was stunned for a bit until I sat up. I heard the blows Nate took.

"Joe. Stop." Joe kept throwing punches towards Nate's bloody face. "Joe, please stop. I just want to go home." I cried and put my hands on his broad shoulders.

"I'm sorry Riley." He got up instantly and hugged me. "Here take this." He shrugged off his jacket and handed it to me. I slipped it on over my now dirt-colored dress. "You might want to pull down your dress." I blushed and readjusted my dress. Nate pulled it up very high on the bottom and pulled it down on the top. _Thank God for strapless bras. _Joe ushered me into his car and we drove away leaving Nate outside and unconscious. Joe had such a tight-grip on the steering wheel his knuckles turned white.

"Joe? Are you okay?" My voice was uneven.

"A little," His body relaxed just a bit. "I'm trying my hardest to not turn this car around and finish that drunken little piec-"

"Joe."

"I'm sorry." He faced me and gave me a weak smile.

"He doesn't deserve whatever you're going to do to him."

"He deserves much worse." His voice was cold again and he tensed up.

"Joe," I leaned over and placed my hand on top his, "Calm down, please." He stared at my hand on top of his and sighed. He removed his hand and instead held my hand. Even though it was dark I could see the color return to his knuckles. They were lobster red. "Stop the car."

"What?"

"Just pull over to the shoulder I want to talk to you." He nodded and did as I said. We sat in silence as the car idled. "Thank you Joe."

"For what?" He focused on the windshield.

"Look at me," I let go of his hand and put under his chin to tilt it towards me, "Thank you for saving me from that creep. If you wouldn't have shown up. It would've…would've ended badly."

"What if I was late? He could have rap-. He could've really hurt you."

"But you weren't. And I'm thanking you for that." I let my hand fall.

"I'm so happy you are okay Riley." He held my hand and massaged it gently. I felt him relax again, but this time completely.

"I'm happy you're happy." I whispered. His gaze found mine and I saw pain and then happiness flash in his eyes. _Pain?_

"Riley can I kiss you?" _That's why. _

"Yes." Before I could take a breath he already had me in a hug. He held onto me as if I would disappear if he let go. He let go slowly and pressed his lips gently on mine. It was the same sweet kiss he gave me before. And once again I kissed him back. He stopped the kiss and buried his face in my neck. I wrapped my arms around him as he breathed in and out.

"I'm so glad you're okay." He whispered. "I should get you home and take a look at cheek. It looks swollen." I let him go and he kissed my cheek before starting the car up again.

The whole ride home his hand never left mine. He let go once, when we got home. _What have we gotten ourselves into?_

* * *

Seems Joe and Riley have gotten themselves into a sticky situation. All it took was a drunk teenager and a fist fight to truly reveal it. I was wondering if you guys like this story? Please tell me! I'd love to hear some reviews, even if they are bad :/. Well I'm going to put up some chapters that I wrote the past couple of days. Hope you enjoy! -Danica


	6. Lying

"You look horrible Riley!" Hannah's voice was filled with concern. "What happened?" I gave her a reassuring smile as I readjusted my backpack.

"I fell on Saturday. My cheek has been swollen since then." She eyed me curiously.

"I'm sorry. Put some ice on it as soon as you get home." I nodded as we walked out to her car. "There's something else isn't there?"

"What? No." _Yes. _

"Riley don't lie to me." Hannah frowned and curled a piece of her dark brown hair. Something she does when she's nervous or thinking. _I doubt she's nervous. _

"It's nothing." _Liar. _

"Riley." I wanted to tell her what was a matter. I wanted someone to know but I couldn't tell her.

"I can't tell you right now. But I swear, I'll tell you soon enough. Please believe me." I held her hand and pleaded with her. She nodded and quickly changed the subject.

"Today was such an easy day. I mean who knew a doctor's appointment could take most of the day and leave you with just two classes."

"Lucky you. English was horrible. Worse than last week."

"Ew. He seriously needs to stop talking about Dickens." I nodded. "Did you see Nate today?" My heart stopped for a bit. "He looks so bad! They say he got into a fight and won. If he looks that bad imagine they guy who lost." _The guy who 'lost' doesn't even have a scratch on him. "_I bet it's a lie. Nate wants that bad-boy persona and he got it with that. I bet he fell while doing ballet or something." We both laughed. I was about to get into her car when I saw Joe out on the steps in front of the school.

_"_Hannah, I think that's Joe. I forgot he's supposed to give me a ride today." _Another lie. _

"Oh. Okay. Well have fun! Don't forget, ice that cheek!" I weakly smiled as she believed my lie. I grabbed my things and walked up to Joe.

"What are you doing here?" My voice sounded colder than intended.

"I thought I'd give you a ride." He put his hands in his pockets.

"Oh, you're talking to me now?" Anger filled me. Since what happened Friday night Joe has been ignoring me.

"Riley, let's not do this here."

"Then where? You haven't said a word to me all weekend. You barely noticed I was alive."

"I just needed some time."

"For what?" I almost yelled this. I was frustrated with Joe and all my frustration led to anger.

"To think about what happened. To think about us."

"There's an us now?"

"No. And there will never be. I'm engaged to Vanessa and you're her little sister. My soon-to-be sister-in-law. I got rid of the feelings I shared with you on Friday. We can only be friends." _Is he breaking up with me?_ I was left speechless. The only emotions I felt currently were heartache and anger. "Please don't cry Riley." His voice softened.

"I'm not crying. I'm angry. How could you just throw those feelings away? You were the one who started this. You kissed me first."

"And you kissed back." He ran a hand through his hair.

"Fine. You can run back to Vanessa's arms and live your picture perfect life," I spat, "And you don't have to worry about Vanessa finding out about this. It'll be our dirty little secret." I took off towards home. My vision was blurry because of my stupid tears. _I should've known this was coming. How could I be so stupid to fall for Joe?_

"Riley I don't want it to end like this. I don't want to hurt you." He chased after me and grabbed my hand.

"Too late."

"Riley, please."

"Stop Joe. I don't want anything to do with you anymore." My heart hurt when I saw his expression. He was hurt. Truly hurt.

"Fine," He let go of my hand, "I was also supposed to tell you were going out of town tomorrow. We're visiting my parents."

"Lovely." I continued my walk home and let my tears fall. As soon as I got home I ran straight up to my room and let myself calm down. _Why did it hurt me so much when he ended things? I knew it was going to happen. I should've never kissed him. I shouldn't have fallen for him. He should've become my friend and not my lover. How could I have been so stupid? _

* * *

Sorry this one is short guys! But it adds some drama. Joe takes back what he did and Riley isn't too happy about that. I wonder if she'll meet another Jonas who could help her wounded heart. *wink* -Danica


	7. I Want You?

An 8 hour car ride with the person who broke your heart the day before was a lot harder than it sounds. Especially when he's sitting right next to you. For the first time I wished Vanessa would've taken the spot. But she didn't because apparently sitting in the middle seat gives her headaches. So Joe took the spot and put both of us between a rock and a hard spot. So I put in my headphones and listened to Justin Bieber sing about violins sinking or swimming. Somewhere between hour 3 and 4 I fell asleep to Miley Cyrus' 'angelic' voice singing about not being tamed. I unfortunately woke up in what felt like a few minutes later when Dad decided to stop.

"Are we there yet?" I said groggily as I buried my face into the seat. _Since when has the seat cushion been so... hard? _

"No. But we are at a gas station. If you would kindly give me back my shoulder, I need to go to the bathroom." Joe said and I could sense the smile on his face.

"What?" I opened my eyes to see while I was asleep I let my head rest on Joe's shoulder. "Oh. I'm sorry." I blushed.

"It's okay." This time I saw his smile and my heart ached. _Let him go Riley. Let him go. _"Do you need anything from inside?"

"Um. No? I don't know. I'm going to go inside anyways. I have to use the bathroom too." He nodded as we got out of the car and made our way to the lovely gas station bathroom.

"Riley I got you some of that Chex Mix you like." Mom said as I walked passed her.

"Thanks Mom." I stopped to chat as Joe went to talk to Vanessa and then to the bathroom.

"Do you want anything else?"

"A water please."

"No problem sweetheart." _Sweetheart? Mom is in a good mood today. _I gave her a smile and went to use the bathroom. After I walked back into the store area and I saw the coffee machine also dispensed hot chocolate. _That sounds so yummy. _On impulse I got a cup. I mean who doesn't love a steaming cup of chocolate?

"If only they had whip cream right?" I jumped and saw Joe smile as he got a muffin.

"Yeah, it's the best part. But it will do."

"But it's a like a root beer float without root beer. Just plain vanilla ice cream."

"That's still delicious though." It felt awkward happily chatting with Joe. Yesterday I was angry with him, but now I was talking to him like it never happened. _But it did happen. He said he doesn't want you. Why would he want you? You're nothing compared to Vanessa. _

"You got me there. Let me pay for it."

"What? No, I can pay for it. I don't need you to pay for it."

"I don't feel obligated to," He moved closer to me and whispered, "I want you." _What did he say? _"I mean I want to. I want to pay for your drink." He said quickly as his cheeks became rosier. I nodded my response as he went up to the clerk. _What did he say? _I couldn't hear him and the way he quickly tried to cover it up makes me think the worse. "Here you go." He weakly smiled as he handed me my drink.

"Thank you." I started for the door.

"Riley?" I turned to face Joe. "I'm... I'm sorry about how I handled things yesterday. I regret...I regret how I said it. That was a jerk move on my account. I'm glad that you're still talking to me. I really hope we can be friends. I know it sounds cliché, but I don't want to lose our friendship." _Just friends? _That hurt more than what he said before. Now I'm going to be his friend and pretend to be happy when he's with Vanessa.

"Yeah. That's fine. Thank you for apologizing. I'm sorry too, for reacting the way I did. How about we go back to car and go meet your family?" He nodded as we followed my advice. I sat in the car for the remaining hours trying to hold back tears as Joe kissed Vanessa every other minute._ Now, this is a jerk move. _

Finally we arrived at the Jonas family cabin. It was in a beautiful location, but not even that could cheer me up.

"Joe! Stop we're here. I need to look amazing when I meet your parents. You're smearing my lipstick." Vanessa shrieked as I quickly undid my seatbelt.

"Fine. One more kiss?" I heard Vanessa giggle before they kissed again. _I can't stand this. _I hopped out of the car and moved towards the trunk to get my things. I deliberately took a long time so everyone could get out of the car and go meet the Jonases. I grabbed my bags and dropped them onto the driveway.

"Need any help?" I glanced up and saw a tall curly-haired boy smiling at me.

"Um. I don't think so. I might," I slung my backpack on one shoulder and attempted to carry my duffle bag.

"Here, my parents sent me down to help you."

"Really?" I readjusted the heavy bag.

"Yes," He laughed and took my bag. He made it seem like it was weightless, "I'm Nick by the way. Joe's little brother."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Riley. Vanessa's little sister." He smiled again and I returned the smile. We walked up to the deck where the introductions were being made.

"And this is my other daughter, Riley." My Father smiled and put his 'happy family' face on. "Riley, this is Mr. and Mrs. Jonas."

"Hi Riley!" Mrs. Jonas pulled me into a big hug. I hugged her back and said a hello. "Nice to meet you. Joe has said a lot about you."

"He has?" I sent Joe a smiling 'what did you say' look and he shook his head.

"Only a couple things. Like how you can cook great brownies." He smiled as Vanessa shot me a dirty look. _Only if she knew everything..._ I shook hands with Mr. Jonas as his wife introduced me to their children.

"This is Kevin and his wife Danielle," I gave them both a hello and saw Kevin took after Nick with his curly locks. "This is Frankie, our youngest. And it seems you've already met Nick."

"Yeah, he's helping me with my bags." Nick and I both smiled. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Joe fidget.

"Well he can show you your room while you're staying with us while he's at it. How about we get you guys all situated and then we have dinner?" We all nodded and set off in our different directions. Nick and I went into the cabin and headed upstairs.

"Thanks again for helping me with my bags."

"No problem. It's the gentleman thing to do. Well I'm sorry about where you're staying. We sort of ran out of rooms so we had to transform the music room into a guest room."

"Music room?"

"Yeah. Joe didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"He's probably embarrassed, but we had a family garage band when we were younger."

"Really?"

"Yeah," He grinned as he opened a door, "Kevin played guitar. Joe sang and played percussion. Also called the tambourine. And I sang, played guitar, drums, and piano."

"Wow, seems like you're a music man."

"Pretty much." I navigated myself in and out of instruments to the bed set up on the far wall. Nick set my bag down on the floor as I flopped onto the bed.

"So which guitar is yours?"

"That red one and that green one," He pointed out as he sat next to me."Oh and that acoustic one by the drum set."

"But there's like 10 other guitars here?"

"Their Kevin's rejects."

"All of them?" I stared wide-eyed at all the guitars.

"Most of them. One's my Dad's and I think Joe has an acoustic one."

"I thought Joe sang?"

"He did. He started with guitar though." I nodded as I glanced at all the beautiful guitars.

"This is really cool," I grinned, "I wish I knew I had to play one of these instruments. I'm sure I would fail at the tambourine let alone a guitar."

"I think you'd be an awesome tambourine player," We both laughed, "How 'bout I teach you how to play the guitar while you're visiting?"

"As long as I get to play the tambourine too."

"Deal." We shook hands and I returned to gazing at the instruments. My mind kept going to Joe. _He can play guitar. I never knew that. I bet he's great. I'm sure Nick is wonderful too. _I have to admit Nick is adorable. He has a great smile and hair that I want to just run my hands through. "How about a give you a crash course before dinner? Show you a chord or two?"

"Sure," I nodded as he grabbed his acoustic guitar and placed it in my hands.

"Okay, so put your hands on the neck." I gave him a confused look. "This part," He led my hand to the skinny part of the guitar, "Okay so put your fingers here, here, and here. Hold down the strings really tight. No, move this finger. Okay think you got it?" I gave him a scared look. "It's going to be okay, now strum." I moved my hands across the strings and it made a weird sound. "Hold it down tighter." He pressed his fingers against fine as I strummed again. It was a richer sound, not to mention easier on the ears. "There you go!"

"I did it!" We both smiled and then noticed his hand was still over mine. "How about you play something now?" I quickly moved my hand and gave him the guitar.

"Yeah, sure." He blushed a bit as he positioned his hands. A rich melody floated up to my ears. "_I pick up all your tears and throw 'em in the backseat. Leave without a second glance. Somehow I'm to blame for this never-ending racetrack you call life. So turn right into my arms. Turn right you won't be alone." _Nick sang and I was amazed at how beautiful he sounded. "Yeah, sorry I couldn't help but sing along."

"No, it's fine. It was great. What's the song called?"

"Turn Right. I wrote it with my brothers awhile back."

"Wow, it's a beautiful song."

"Thank you." He smiled and moved closer to me. I couldn't help but lean in towards him. "Riley do you think it would be okay," We leaned further in towards each other, "If I could possibly-"

"Nick? Riley? Dinner." Joe barged in as Nick and I moved away from each other. _Great. _

"Okay. I'll see you down there Riley." I nodded as Nick walked out. Joe seemed really tense.

"What?" I got up and moved towards him.

"Nothing." He gave me a look informing me it's not 'anything'.

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying. It's just great to see you and Nick 'bonding'." He had an expression of disgust. _Is he jealous?_

"Yeah we are bonding. And doing nothing else." He snorted. "You don't believe me? I've known him for a few minutes. And I'm not ready to like anyone right now. Last time I liked someone, they broke my heart." I headed out the door and down to the hallway.

"Riley, I'm sorry."

"I don't want your apologies anymore Joe. They bring me more pain than comfort." With that I left and followed the smell of meatballs down to the kitchen.

* * *

Riley officially met the whole Jonas family. Who knew there could be 3 gorgeous guys in 1 family? One of those boys though is extremely jealous. Wonder what Joe is going to do next... -Danica


	8. I'm Not That Kind Of Friend

Unfortunately I ended up sitting next to Joe once again. Out of everyone there, I had to sit next to him and only him. _Who doesn't love the edge?_ The only plus side was Mrs. Jonas dinner of spaghetti and meatballs looked absolutely amazing. It's a meal I would never get at home.

"Okay, time for grace." Mr. Jonas smiled as everyone held hands around the table. Joe held my hand and all I could think about was the ride home from the awful party. The same night Joe showed me how much he cared for me. Little did I know all that would end sooner than later? I could even feel the way he massaged my hand. _Wait, I really can feel it. _I looked at my hand and saw he was massaging it. I glanced up at him and he smiled weakly as he squeezed my hand. I tried to focus on Mr. Jonas but all I could think about how my hand was intertwined with Joe's. _Why is he doing this?_ "Amen." We all murmured our own amens and dug into our meal. Joe still held my hand and it felt nice. _It felt right. "_So Joseph, how have things been going with the wedding?" _He's going to let go now and make me feel like an idiot. _But, he didn't. He and Vanessa prattled on and on about their wedding but he held _my _hand. Luckily, the tablecloth hid this from everyone else. For the rest of dinner we held hands and conversations with everyone. For once people wanted to know about my life and not make fun of me for it. Mrs. Jonas is probably the nicest person I've met next to Hannah. She seemed genuinely interested in me and made me feel comfortable talking about things. I didn't have to brace myself for a hurtful comment. Joe slipped his hand out of mine when he went to clean up dinner with Kevin. My family was told to 'not lift a finger' because we were their guests. And I didn't complain, finally someone else can do dishes. I spent some time talking to Frankie and Kevin about the newest action movie in the theaters, but decided to head up to bed. Everyone followed my suit and said their goodnights. It's been a long day of driving and confusing actions and the only thing I wanted to see was a bed. I managed to navigate to it and slip on my pajamas with the light off. I peeled the covers back and slipped in. I sighed in relief and closed my eyes. Yet as soon as I did my brain started thinking. Thinking a lot about Joe. _He's so confusing. _I rolled onto my side as I tried to figure out what was happening now between Joe and me. I truly, don't know what we are. Before I could decode our relationship I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in." I sat up as I tried to figure out who came into the room.

"Riley? It's me, Joe. Do you wanna go on a walk with me?"

"Right now? It's the middle of the night."

"Please?"

"Fine." I sighed and slipped on my shoes. I followed him through the dark house until we got to the front door. We got out and I soon realized I forgot my jacket inside. _Idiot. _I wrapped my arms around myself as I followed Joe through the yard. "Where exactly are we going?"

"To my special spot."

"Which is?"

"Here" He stopped in front of a large tree. The moonlight gave it a frightening silhouette.

"Seems like a scary spot."

"It's just the moonlight," He laughed. "It's better in the sun."

"Then why are we out here now?"

"I don't know."

"If you don't know then I'm leaving. It's too cold to be out here for no reason." I turned on my heels but Joe caught my wrist.

"Please stay Riley." His eyes looked desperate. I nodded as he shrugged off his long sleeve shirt leaving him in a wife beater and flannel pants. "Here take this. It's not much, but it can keep you warm."

"Thank you." I put it on and much to my surprise it was warm. _It smells wonderful, like his cologne. _"So any reason we are out in your front yard, which is also considered the woods, in the middle of a cold night?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"So you woke me up? Couldn't you have taken Vanessa on this moonlit stroll?"

"Truthfully? No. The only person I wanted to take was you."

"Why?" A sweet smile came across his lips.

"I don't know. I was in the kitchen drinking water when I realized I wanted to come out here. Your face came into mind instantly. I thought you'd enjoy it."

"Normally I would. But right now I'm not sure."

"Why?" He stepped towards me and hesitated slightly before taking my hand.

"Because of this," I nodded to our hands, "You told me you lost these feelings for me. But you keep being flirty with me and holding my hand. Yet you say we are 'just friends'. I'm confused Joe. Then you got jealous when you walked in on Nick and I sitting together doing nothing."

"I didn't get jealous." He let go of my hand.

"Yes, you did. You're reaction now gave it away."

"Maybe I was. So what?"

"Friends don't get jealous of that. Friends don't hold your hand. Friends don't take you out on midnight walks!" My voice went up higher with each sentence.

"Well maybe I'm the kind of friend that does!" Joe spat back. "Maybe I got a bit jealous of you and Nick," I scoffed," because I saw the possibility of you liking him! Maybe I hold your hand because I like the way it makes me feel. It feels good, it feels right. And maybe I take you on midnight walks because I want to talk to you with no one around! Or because I want to hold you in my arms and kiss you without anyone seeing. But most importantly, I want to take back everything I said and did since we came home Friday night."

"What?" I whispered as tears pooled in my eyes.

"I've tried so hard to ignore my feelings for you Riley. I knew there was something there since the first night we met. I ignored that until the night after washing dishes. I prayed you wouldn't kiss me back. That you would slap me, punch me, anything but kiss me back. But you did. Then we tried to blow it off, but we couldn't. When I showed up and saw that prick hurting you, I got so angry. Angry at him and me because I knew I really liked you," He ran both hands through his hair in frustration and I noticed his eyes glistened a bit. "What we shared in the car scared me. It freaked me out because I didn't know what would happen if we continued the relationship. So I was a jackass and shut you out. I broke things off even though it wasn't what I wanted. And I regret it. I truly regret it. Seeing you just sitting there with Nick made me realize I can't deny my feelings for you." He grabbed both my hands and held them in front of us. "I'm sorry I did all of that. I'm sorry I hurt you. And I'm sorry for apologizing because I know you don't want my apologies. But tell me one thing, even though I hurt you, do you think you could forgive me and we can try this relationship again?" I saw a few tears fall from his eyes. I couldn't deny it, even though he was a jerk, something draws me to Joe. I moved my hand and used my thumb to wipe away his tears. I let my hand linger on his cheek and gently caress it.

"Yes. But if you hurt me, don't expect me to even be your friend." I let a few of my own tears fall.

"I won't. I promise. I won't ever hurt you Riley." He pulled me into a hug and buried his face in my neck. This time I held onto him hoping that when I let him go, he wouldn't disappear. That it wouldn't turn out to be a dream and I'd have to face him and Vanessa's relationship tomorrow. I held my breath and closed my eyes as I let him go. I opened them to see Joe's face in the moonlight. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. This is real. I thought this was all a dream and when I let you go I would wake up and be stuck in hell again. But it's not a dream. It's real." I brushed the hair out of his eyes.

"Of course I'm real. If I weren't you wouldn't be able to feel my hand in yours," He placed his hand in mine, "And you wouldn't feel my kiss." He placed his lips on mine gently. "See, I'm real." He whispered before we kissed again. We spent our time outside kissing each other and just hugging. Doing things we couldn't do in front of the people asleep in the house. "We should go inside. You need your rest."

"I know I should but I don't want to. I want to stay with you as long as possible." We kissed one more time before he led us back to house. We were careful and quiet navigating around ensuring we wouldn't be caught. Joe kissed me on the cheek before I got into bed.

"Goodnight Riley. I'll see you in the morning." I nodded and then he left. I had uneasy feeling about this, but I hid that away and fell asleep instantly.

* * *

Joe finally apologized for the way he's handled this situation with Riley. She took him back with open arms clearly ignoring he's taken. Things can't go wrong right? Right? -Danica


	9. Never Say Never

I met Joe every night at his 'special' spot, but by now it should be called _our_ special spot. Meeting him there turned into the highlight of my entire day. Sure I loved hanging out with the Jonas family, but only one Jonas boy was constantly on my mind. The time we spent at the tree turned into the only time we could actually act like we were in a relationship, or whatever we call what we are in. I got to be in his arms and just talk about everything and nothing at the same time. I told Joe everything about life, things I haven't even told Hannah. Joe also told me a lot about himself. Things I wanted to know and things I didn't want to know. The worst feeling in the world was when we had to go back to the cabin and pretend to just be friends. It hurt watching him be in Vanessa's arms. For once in my life I didn't care about impressing my parents or trying to outshine Vanessa. For once in my life I was happy. It's just complicated because Joe makes me happy instead of another guy. Vanessa was clueless to what Joe and I share. She even asked me to stay longer with her and Joe to help them plan their wedding. _She's so clueless, and_ _I'm happy about that_. I'm dreading the day she finds out.

"Earth to Riley!" Nick waved a hand in front of my face and I quickly shook all my thoughts away.

"What?"

"I've been trying to get you to come on a hike with me for 10 minutes. I thought you didn't want to go, but turns out you tuned me out." Nick frowned and a curl fell into his eyes.

"I'm sorry," I brushed the curl back, "I was just thinking. I'd love to go on a hike with you. I hope it's not too intense cause all I have are flip-flops."

"That's fine," He had his signature goof grin on his face, "Come on. It's a little trail that leads to another spot on the lake." I smiled and followed him through the woods. Ever since I got here Nick has been nothing but nice to me. He's become a really good friend. Sometimes I catch myself thinking of the way he smiles at me or how cute he looks when he's concentrating on playing the guitar. "I found this a few years ago. No one really knows about it so this is the place we go during summer when the tourists come into town. It's right behind those 2 trees." What was there really surprised me. It was a small spot on the shore with on old dock leading out onto deeper water. The sun on the horizon illuminated everything on the lake making it even more breathtaking.

"Wow. This place is amazing Nick!"

"I know." He grinned and took my hand to led us down the dock. We hung our legs over and just sat wide-eyed admiring everything. _Well at least I was. _"It's beautiful isn't it?" I just nodded. I was watching two birds fly over a tall pine when I felt Nick place his hand over mine. I turned to face him and saw he was staring at me.

"Nick?"

"Riley." We stared at each other until Nick gently cupped my cheek. We both hesitated. _I shouldn't do this. I should NOT do this. _Nick leaned in and placed his lips on mine. As much as I knew I shouldn't even let him kiss me, I kissed him back. _What am I doing? _I wrapped my arms around his neck as he tried to deepen the kiss.

"Stop. Nick, stop." I broke the kiss and knew I made a mistake. "We can't do this." I removed my hand from his and stood up.

"Why not?" Nick had a look of pure disappointment in his eyes. He tried to hold my hand but I pushed it away.

"We just can't Nick. I'm sorry." His disappointment faded from his eyes as anger filled them.

"I knew it!"

"Knew what?"

"There's someone else isn't there?"

"Yes. No. Well not officially." I stuttered out my response because I was shocked at Nick's sudden mood swing.

"If it's not official then what's so wrong about a kiss?"

"It feels wrong."

"But it's okay for him to plan a wedding with your sister?" He yelled that as I my jaw dropped. _He knows?_

"What?" Tears started pooling in my eyes.

"Don't play dumb Riley. I knew there was something going on between you and Joe. I just knew it."

"If you knew then why did you kiss me?"

"I still doubted you actually had something with him."

"How do you know?"

"I'm not stupid. I see the way you look at him and the way he can't keep his eyes off you. Even when he's with Vanessa he still stares at you. "

"Why didn't you tell me you knew?" Anger bubbled inside me. _How could Nick not tell me this? _

"Because deep down I thought if I tried my hardest I could get you to look at me the same way. I really like you Riley."

"I like you too Nick, but as a friend."

"Then why did you kiss me back?"

"I...I...I got caught up in the moment."

"No you didn't," He moved closer to me, "You kissed me back because you wanted to. You like me Riley, you just wont admit it to yourself."

"Suddenly you know how I feel? No one but me knows what I feel and what I think."

"I know Joe is never going to leave Vanessa. He's still planning the wedding Riley. You've been here for a month and he hasn't even put a hold on the arrangements."

"He's waiting for the right moment."

"No, he's not. He's going to have his fun with you, break your heart, and marry your sister. Don't let him use you Riley."

"He's not using me!" I cried out. _Why are his words affecting me?_

"Yes, he is." He held my hands and I let him. "Leave him Riley and date me. I won't break your heart and we don't have to sneak around." I shook my head. _Joe isn't going to break my heart again. He's not. _

"I can't Nick." I let go of his hands.

"Does he love you?"

"I don't know."

"Do you love him?"

"Yes."

"Why? Why can you love him and treat me like crap?"

"I do not treat you like crap. I love you too Nick but as a friend. That will never change."

"Never say never. That's going to change the same day he marries Vanessa and leaves you heartbroken. You're going to realize you made the biggest mistake of your life."

"It's not a mistake Nick. For once I'm happy. It's complicated, but I'm happy. If you truly feel something for me, you'd let me be happy." He stood there and refused to look at me. "Promise me you won't tell anyone," He glanced at the mountains and I titled his chin towards me, "Promise. If this relationship is going to crash and burn I'd rather you weren't involved. If you tell anyone I don't think I could ever love you. As a friend or something more." I let my hand fall and I left him alone on the dock. As soon as I was out of sight I sobbed. How could Nick's words affect me as much as they did? Why didn't Joe call off the wedding? And most importantly, why did I kiss Nick back? Do I like him? Or do I like the thought of a stable and normal relationship with him? This day was supposed to be carefree and fun, but it was confusing and filled with anger and sadness.

* * *

Two gorgeous guys want Riley and she's made her choice. Or has she? Will Joe do what Nick described and leave her heartbroken or will he break up with Vanessa? Maybe Riley will end things with Joe. I wonder...-Danica


	10. Breaking Up is Hard to Do

All I could think about was what Nick told me at sunset. As much as I wanted to just blow off his words, I couldn't. Joe should've called off the wedding by now, but he hasn't. What if he isn't actually going to call it off? What if he is using me? I know one thing, as much as I try to hide it, I love Joe. It's wrong and stupid, but I love him. He makes me happy and feel important, wanted. If he breaks my heart I'm not sure what's going to happen to me. I know for sure I'm going to be a mess and him being married to my sister is not going to help that.

"What's amatter Riley?" Joe wrapped his arm tighter around my shoulder.

"Nothing." I gave him a weak smile as I rested against his chest.

"You're lying. But I'm not going to question you because you don't want to tell me." Joe gave me a concerned look as I mentally debated interrogating him about the wedding.

"Do you love me?" I glanced up at him, my eyes searching for his answer.

"Yes." He smiled and kissed me. "That's not what you wanted to know is it?" I glanced away and nodded.

"Why haven't you called off the wedding?"It was a full moon and its light illuminated everything in sight. It made everything look eerie, yet gorgeous.

"I'm waiting for the right time."

"When's the right time going to come? Is it even going to come up?"

"It is Riley. I just don't know how to break it to Vanessa."

"Just tell her the truth." I snapped back.

"Yeah just tell her 'Hey Babe, you look gorgeous today but I can't marry you. You see, I'm in love with your underage sister. We've been having an affair for awhile right under your nose. I'll pick up my things on Monday. Thanks.' I can't be blunt with her about this. She'll ruin your life Riley. Make you miserable. I can't let her do that."

"Sure you can't do that, but it's okay having me plan _your _wedding? I'm miserable having to share you with her. Especially when it seems like you'll choose her in the end." I stood up and paced.

"I'm not going to choose her." Joe walked out into the meadow muttering something under his breath.

"Prove it to me then." I stood in front of him and crossed my arms over my chest.

"How? I'll do anything for you." The way he said that made my heart beat a little bit faster. _Maybe he's not lying when he says he loves me._

"Please, call off the wedding."

"I told you, I'll do that when the right moment comes up."

"It's been over a month. You guys already chose a place to have it. You set a date. She ordered her dress and your tux. I'm sorry if I'm overreacting but it sounds like you have no intention of breaking up with her."

"I'm going to. You have to trust me."

"I can't. I just can't." Joe ran a hand through his hair signaling he's frustrated. "When it comes to my heart being broken I don't think I can trust anyone."

"I understand that, but why does this suddenly bother you. Last night you weren't like this. Hell, this morning you weren't like this."

"I tried overlooking it." I avoided his gaze.

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not." I still avoided his gaze. For the first time I'm openly lying to Joe and it makes me feel horrible.

"Yes you are. Does someone know about us? Did someone say something to you to make you freak out?"

"I'm not freaking out," _I beg to differ, _"But yes someone knows. Nick knows. I guess we aren't as secretive as we thought."

"When did Nick tell you?"

"Today. Right after he kissed me." _Did I just say that? _I closed my eyes hoping that when I open them again Joe would forget what I just said.

"You guys kissed?" Jealously flooded his face. "Is that why you question me? Do you like him?"

"No. I do not like Nick that way."

"You say that after you kissed him?"

"He kissed me!"

"But you kissed him back right?" Joe yelled this and messed with his hair. I've never seen the jealous side of Joe before.

"Yes. You know what? I did and I enjoyed kissing him. If you can have a relationship with Vanessa why can't I have one with Nick?" I was so angry. Angry at Joe, angry at Nick, and angry at myself. _I can't believe I just said that._

"Fine. Have your little relationship with Nick."

"I will. At least I know he loves me and no one else."

"If you don't believe that I love you, then I have no idea why you want me to call the wedding off. If I don't love you and you don't love me then why are we in a relationship?"

"This isn't a relationship," I held back a few tears. _This never was and will never be. _"This is an affair. I'm another girl who's stupid enough to believe that her lover was going to leave his girlfriend."

"Do you really believe that?" Joe's voice softened.

"Yes," I nodded, "This is a fling. I was too naive to notice."

"Then this is it, isn't it?"

"This is what?"

"The end." I could barely nod. Even in the middle of the night, with tears blurring my vision, Joe looked stunning. All of his features were illuminated making my heart ache even more. This is all my fault. "I do love you Riley. It's a shame you don't believe me." His voice cracked and I noticed he was crying. This only made my tears come faster.

"I love you too Joe. But this relationship can't survive on love alone."

"There's no way to stop this is there?"

"No. We knew it would end this way. It's just earlier than expected. Now you can marry Vanessa and be happy with her. Live your fairy tale life and forget about me."

"What if I don't want to forget?" Joe reached for my hand and as much as I wanted him to hold it, I pushed it away.

"You're going to have to. You have to marry Vanessa and I have to disappear from your heart."

"This isn't what's supposed to happen. We are not meant to say goodbye."

"Yes we are." I sobbed and Joe stood there silently. _We should have never said hello. _

"If this is what you want, then I have to let you go." _I don't want this. _"I love you so much Riley and all of this is my fault. I should've called off the wed-"

"No. This break-up lies solely upon my shoulders."

"I can't let you take the blame."

"You have too. It's my fault and I'm sorry you wasted your time with me and risked your relationship with Vanessa."

"This wasn't a waste of time."

"That's what you say now." Joe gently brushed away my tears with his thumbs.

"Goodbye Riley." His voice cracked as tears slid down his cheeks.

"Bye Joe." We hugged each other and Joe buried his face in my neck like he always does. _I'll never feel that again. I'm truly losing him. _I struggled with myself as I let him go. _Why am I doing this? _He looked completely devastated. _I'm letting you live the life you're supposed to live. You're going to have your trophy wife, huge mansion, and everything you ever wanted. With me there would be nothing and I can't let that happen to you. You don't deserve me, you deserve her, amazing and wonderful Vanessa. _Before we could say or do anything else, I ran away. I ran back to the cabin. I ran into my room and sobbed openly. This is really over. I ruined this thinking I was protecting me, but deep down I knew this affair with Joe would never last. I wouldn't let it. Joe is better off with her. I know it and he knows it. Who knew goodbye could hurt so much? I said I wanted this and now I have to deal with it.


	11. Falling For Someone New

I am not looking forward to this breakfast. I spent half the night tossing and turning thinking about Joe and crying. _Mostly crying._ Unfortunately I looked like it. My eyes are bloodshot and puffy. My hair is in a frizzy ponytail and I'm wearing my older pajamas. _I look like hell. _I mustered up all the courage I had left and walked into the aromatic kitchen. Mostly everyone was in there busying themselves by eating, talking, or both.

"Good morning Riley," Mrs. Jonas smile fell when she noticed my appearance, "Are you okay?" She stepped away from her bubbling pancakes as Nick glanced towards me.

"Yeah. I think it's my allergies or I'm getting sick." I nodded and sat next to Nick on the island.

"Oh, I'm sorry sweetheart," She placed a hand on my shoulder displaying motherly affection. Something I would never receive from my own mother. "You should have Joe check you out. He is a doctor." She proudly smiled as my heart ached.

"No, it's okay. I'll just take some Tylenol or something."I unconsciously started chewing on my lower lip in nervousness. Nick gave me a confused look before taking a sip of his milk.

"We have a doctor in the family so, we of course are going to mooch off of him. Plus do it for me. I know I'm going to worry about what you could have."

"Okay. Only if I may have some of your delicious pancakes." I gave her a weak smile.

"Of course! That reminds me, I don't want those to burn!" She went back to her golden pancakes as I poured myself a glass of orange juice. Mrs. Jonas had a plate of pancakes in front of me in no time. I drowned them in syrup as I listened to the conversations going on. Mr. Jonas and Frankie were talking about his upcoming football game. Nick and Mrs. Jonas were talking about the possibility of going fishing sometime this week. Vanessa and I were silent, she had her nose in a bridal magazine and I had my nose in a plate of pancakes.

"Good morning guys." A hoarse voice said. I kept my head down focusing on the pattern of the plate.

"Good morning sweetie." Vanessa cooed as a chair got pulled out.

"Joe are you sick too?" Mrs. Jonas got up from her seat to go place a hand on his forehead. _He's looks just as bad as me._His usually clean-shaven face had unkempt 5 o'clock shadow. His eyes were red too. This made me feel worse. _How could I do this to him? _

"No. I couldn't sleep. Bad dreams. Is someone sick?" His voice sounded like he was trying too hard to sound normal.

"Yes. I think Riley caught something. I told her you'd check her out, figure out what's wrong."

"Oh. Yeah I'll do that in awhile." His eyes flashed to me for a second and then he went back to looking at the fruit bowl. Vanessa soon got everyone in a conversation deciding what to serve at the rehearsal dinner. I slipped out somewhere between chicken and fish to go get dressed. I got to the hallway when someone grabbed my wrist.

"Riley?"

"No it's Batman. It's obviously me, Nick." I put my arms across my chest.

" Yeah, that was stupid," He nodded and stared at me.

"This is kinda creeping me out. What do you want to tell me?"

"He broke up with you didn't he?" I bit my lip and stared at the rug.

"No. I broke it off with him." I could feel the tears coming so I bit my lip harder focusing my thoughts on the pain.

"What? Why?"

"I realized some of the things you said were true. He's not going to leave Vanessa, so I broke us up sooner than later."

"I'm sorry."

"What? I thought would be happy. This is what you wanted isn't it?"

"I didn't want to hurt you." He pulled me into a hug and I rested my head against his chest. "I'm sorry." It felt good being in his arms and being comforted.

"It's fine. At least it will be. Just give me sometime and I'll be back to feeling normal." I murmured as he wrapped his arms tighter around my torso.

"I hope so. Do you think I'm a horrible person for putting the idea in your head?"

"No, of course not." I gave Nick a reassuring look as he nodded.

"I also want you to know I wasn't lying."

"Lying? About what?"

"Really liking you. I hope someday, maybe _we _can have a chance." He gently kissed my cheek. I have no idea why, but all of this felt right. Nick kissing me and just being in his arms. _I think we do have a chance. _

"You missed it."

"What?"

"You missed your chance, which closely resembles my lips." I grinned.

"Are you sure?" Nick looked uneasy as I took his hand. I ran my fingers across his hand and then linked them.

"Maybe I was lying yesterday. Maybe I don't love you as _just_ a friend." Nick searched my eyes trying to find out if this was a lie.

"It feels weird saying this," He slowly smiled, "but that may have been the best lie ever." This time he kissed me on the lips and a little bit of pain in my heart turned to joy. _I think Nick is the Jonas brother I should've fallen for first. _


	12. Better Than Benadryl

"Take a deep breathe in. Now out." Joe nodded as he went to get something out of his small med kit.

"You know I'm not sick." I couldn't help but admire him as he was busy looking for something. "Can't you just say it's my allergies and say I need a benadryl?"

"I should, but then what kind of doctor would I be? Open." He placed a thermometer in my mouth mostly to keep me quite. Joe kept himself busy by organizing some things in his kit leaving me to my thoughts. We shouldn't be this close to each other so soon. The feelings I'm trying so hard to get rid of, bubbled up to the surface. _I still love him. One night isn't going to change that. _Beeping noises came from my mouth signaling it was done. "98.6. Not a big surprise. Let me see your wrist?" I gave him a quizzical look but held out my arm. He placed two fingers on my skin looking for my pulse.

"Do you really need to do this?" I stared down at his hand.

"No," I raised my eyes to meet his, "But I think this is the only time I could be with you. Alone." His eyes softened as he moved his hand down my wrist and into my palm. I let him hold my hand and muted my thoughts that were telling me this is stupid. _I miss him. _

"We shouldn't be doing this." I didn't move my hand.

"Why? You know this feels right."

"We can't do this. You have Vanessa and I have Nick." _Did I just say that? _I closed my eyes in disbelief. _How could I say that? _Joe removed his hand and stared at the brown coffee table. _He's angry at me. _

"It hasn't even been 24 hours and you already moved on? Moved on to my little brother too. " I was shocked at how much his words stung. "So you lied to me. You do like Nick. Is he the reason you broke things up between us?"

"No. He's not the reason Joe. You have to believe that."

"Why should I?" He snapped back and got up to stand by the window.

"Joe, please listen to me." I stood beside him. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were now filled with fury. "You know this wouldn't have worked out. You're going to marry Vanessa and nothing is going to change about that. We were a fling. A last minute hesitation for you. It's over now and Vanessa will never know. You can go live the life you are supposed to live."

"You're wrong. We were never a fling. I love you Riley. I would do anything to be with you. But it seems you've already found someone else." The fury was now replaced with pain. "Can I ask you to do something?"

"Anything."

"Kiss me."

"What?" We faced each other and Joe moved closer to me.

"Kiss me one more time. So I know it's truly goodbye."

"We shouldn't."

"When have we done something by the rules?"

"Never."

"Exactly. Please Riley. This is closure." I nodded and knew deep-down I wanted to kiss him again. Feel his lips on mine. I brushed the hair out of his eyes and cupped his cheek. He closed his eyes at my gentle touch and I placed my lips on his. I felt that spark that every girl dreams about. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he kissed back and deepened our kiss. He pulled me into his chest and placed his hands on my hips._ Why does this feel so good? _We managed to make our way up to my room, even though we were intertwined. Joe laid me on the bed and got on top. His legs straddled my hips and his hands cupped my face. His tongue entered my mouth as I began to unbutton his shirt. I began kissing his warm neck and moved down to his chest as he shrugged his shirt off. I stared in awe of Joe's muscular torso while he moved his hand down my thigh pushing up my sundress. I undid my zipper and shimmied out of the yellow fabric leaving a smile on Joe's gorgeous face. "You're so beautiful." He nibbled on my ear causing me to release a slight moan of pleasure. Joe slipped off his jeans and wrapped his arms around me. "I love you so much." He then buried his face into my neck and hair. I closed my eyes at his sweet gesture.

"I love you too. No matter what happens, I will always love you." Joe stared into my eyes, smiling, as he gave me a tender kiss. In between passionate kisses we managed to get rid of all our clothing. We laid there naked in the sheets kissing each other, not thinking about what was going on outside the 4 walls of the room. All I could think about was Joe. About how much I love him, how gorgeous he is, how when I kiss him on the right spot on the neck he lets out a low moan. His hands groped my breasts as I let my hand wander down to his waist. Then to his inner thigh and then, well, you know. My cheeks grew hotter as Joe smirked. He held my hands and raised my arms above my head. "I'm ready." My voice was shaky with all my nervousness.

"Are you sure?" He let go of my arms and scanned my face. I nodded as he smiled. I ran my hands through his hair and rested them on his broad shoulders. I've never felt pain like that before, but it was worth it. Joe knew exactly what to do and when to do it. It was incredible. Joe rested his head on my chest as I played with his hair. His chest heaved up and down at a fast pace as he tried to catch his breath. Mine did the same. Joe rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow. "That was amazing. You're amazing." He leaned in and kissed my forehead.

"And you're unbelievable." We kissed once again and Joe wrapped his arms around laid there listening to the deep breaths we took and to our beating hearts. _So this is what love feels like. _The rest of afternoon we made love. Joe was just as gentle as the first time. We only stopped when we heard the rest of the Jonas family come home. We slipped all of our clothes back on and made sure we looked presentable. Joe snaked his arms around my waist as I finished putting my hair up into a bun.

"Do we have to leave?" He gave me little kisses leading up my neck to my jaw.

"Yes. They'll notice if we suddenly go missing." I placed my hands over his and gave him a quick kiss.

"So what have we been doing for the past couple of hours?"

"Having fun. And sex." Joe smirked and nodded.

"Yes we did. But what do we tell my family?"

"That you were taking care of me. I am sick you know." I grinned soaking up every detail of this afternoon.

"You poor baby." He kissed my forehead and we hesitantly let go of each other. We opened the door and prepared ourselves to be nothing but friends. He will go downstairs and kiss Vanessa while I'll go down and hug Nick. _This is an odd relationship, but who cares. We love each other and nothing else matters. _

_

* * *

The said goodbye but now they are saying something different. I wonder how long this will last with Joe and Nick for that matter. What has Riley gotten herself into? _


	13. Invisible?

I thought things would change after that wonderful afternoon I spent with Joe. It didn't. Joe was still engaged to Vanessa and I was in a relationship with Nick. Well, more of a friendship than a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. I loved Nick, but not as much as I love Joe. I love Joe and that scares me. How can I love a man who is in a relationship with someone? In a relationship with my older sister too! Everything about this screams "stupidity" and "heartbreak", but for once I ignored that. I want this to work with Joe, but deep down I have a feeling it won't. I rested my head against the rough bark of the tree hoping to get my brain to stop obsessing about my relationships. I brought my knees to my chest and focused my gaze on the meadow. In less than a week, Joe and Vanessa are set to be married. I can't believe I let myself get this involved with Joe. In one week our lives are going to change, for the good and for someone, the bad._ Who gets the good part though?_ I sighed heavily and stretched out my legs. _I'm such a downer. _

"What's with the sigh?" Joe came out from behind the tree with a smile on his face that makes my heart melt.

"Thinking of how they almost replaced Taylor Lautner in Twilight."

"A real travesty, I suppose." He rolled his eyes and took a seat in the dirt next to me. "Well I think I know how to cheer you up."

"How?" I brought my knees back to my chest and focused my gaze on Joe.

"Can I play something for you?" I reached behind the tree to bring an acoustic guitar I once marveled at when I first arrived at the Jonas house. He fumbled around with it nervously, playing a few chords.

"Sure." I gave him a grin as he ran a hand nervously through his hair.

"I haven't played in the longest time, so forgive me if it's horrible. I just got inspired recently to write a song and I think you should be the first person to hear it." He smiled at the last part as he began to warm up his fingers by playing a few more chords. _"I can feel you all around. In the silence I hear the sound of your footsteps on the ground_ _and my heart slows down. So now I'm waiting for the moonlight so I can find you in this perfect dream. Don't think you can hide there in the shadows, Girl you're not invisible to me. You're all I can see. See in the darkness. Believe we can make this all we want it to be. We can stay here forever cuz when we're together, we're stuck in this fantasy. I don't want to leave._ Yeah that's pretty much the abridged version." He nodded nervously and waited for my response.

"That's really good! No lie. I didn't know you were a great singer and songwriter."

"I got the singing down, but not much the writing part. It takes something very important to inspire me." He said as he looked straight into my eyes.

"Is that song about me?"

"Yes. Don't you remember the first night we met? You said on the phone you were in the background, but I want you to know you're not. You're all I can see. And we spend a good time together right here at this tree at night. So you get the moonlight part."

"Thank you Joe. You're the first person to make me visible, important."

"Good." He stared at my lips waiting to kiss me.

"We can't Joe. Everyone is home." I felt myself move closer to him as he did the same.

"I don't care anymore. They should know I love you." He placed his lips on mine but I quickly rejected it.

"So you're going to do it?"

"Do what?" He smiled and leaned in for a kiss.

"Break up with Vanessa." I quickly backed away from him. _Maybe my life will change for the good. Just maybe. _

"I'm going to break up with her when the time is right."

"The wedding is less than a week away. The right time is now." My voice went up, showing my agitation.

"No it's not. I'm still figuring how to break it to her and when. Let's not do this now Riley."

"What? It's not the right time?" I shot back as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Do you want me to break up with her right now? Would that please you?" Joe hissed out as he stood up.

"It just might." I stood up with him and we faced each other.

"Why does this bother you so much?"

"Why does it bother me?" I repeated in shock and disgust. "Well let's see, I'm having an affair with my sister's boyfriend. As much as I want to ignore Vanessa, she's my sister. It feels wrong doing this to her. Leaving her in the dark and setting her up for heartbreak."

"Why do you care about Vanessa? She doesn't care about you. She belittles you every chance she gets and makes you feel like crap. Suddenly, you care what she thinks?"

"Yes, because she's going to be in my life forever."

"Imagine what she's going to do when she finds out."

"Well the way things are going, it seems like she isn't! Doesn't it feel bad to string her along for so long? You're letting her believe she's going to marry you. You let her believe she was going to have you." I stopped talking and focused back on what I said. _He's stringing someone along, so in the last moment he's going to let her down. Someone he has no plans with... "_Me. You're stringing me along?" I faced him with tear filled eyes and saw he avoided my gaze. "You're stringing me along?" I cried out again waiting for his response. None came. "You were never going to choose me. That's why the 'right time' didn't come up, cause it's not supposed to. How could I ever think that someone would choose me over perfect Vanessa."

"Don't say that Riley. I would choose you but-"

"But you won't!"

"I would. You know I would," He tried wrapping his arms around me, but I pushed him away. "How are we supposed to have a relationship out in the open? If I broke up with Vanessa you're family would hate me. Never would they accept us. My family would get over it, but they wouldn't be too eager if I brought you home as a date."

"Why do you care? If you truly love me you wouldn't care. I don't care what my family thinks or yours. The only person's approval you want, is each others."

"So truthfully you wouldn't care if your family hated you?"

"No. They don't care about me. Never have, never will." I said bitterly.

"That's not true. They do-"

"No, they don't. Why do you care about what people think? If you're happy with me, can't you just ignore them?"

"I can't. I couldn't live with my family and your family hating me. It just adds more complications to a relationship." He stared down at the dirt he kicked up with his shoe.

"So you're going to choose her. You're going to choose an easy relationship then a loving one?"

"Yes." He whispered, ashamed with his response.

"Was what we shared a lie?"

"No." His head snapped up to look me in the eye. "Everything I told you has been true."

"Except the part about breaking up with Vanessa."

"I'm sorry, -"

"I don't want your apologies."

"At least let me tell you how I really feel."

"No, because if you really do love me we wouldn't be here right now. We wouldn't being hiding our relationship."

"What do you want me to do?" He yelled as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"You know exactly what I want, but you're not going to do it." With a clenched jaw he looked to the side ignoring my statement. "So I guess now you can go and kiss the woman you're settling for."

"I'm not settling for her!" He spat back with anger. "She's amazing. She's beautiful, smart, and never in the background. Unlike you. She doesn't say she loves me and then fights with me. She's a hundred times better than you." I lowered my gaze hoping he wouldn't see how much his words stung.

"Then why did you start relationship with me? Someone who's obviously not as good as her." I said softly, trying to rebound from his remarks.

"You're so insecure about yourself. I felt bad for you. I showed you some attention and it grew from there."

"So all of this is to help me, right? Help me feel _special?_"

"I guess so. It wasn't supposed to get this far. I was supposed to stop it before we started feeling something for each other."

"Well you didn't. You got us back together, you didn't break us up."

"I guess I was a guy. I don't look down on the opportunity to sleep with someone." Joe gave me a glare as I stood there in shock.

"Glad to see I gave my virginity to someone who cares about me." His eyes softened a bit, but not much. "I hope you have a wonderful life with Vanessa. I see now you two are more alike than I thought." I ran back to the house and up to my room. I'm so angry with myself for actually thinking Joe would choose me. I'm angry for not seeing how much of a jerk Joe truly is. I sat on the bed thinking about everything. If Joe can be happy with someone else, why can't I? I stood up smiling. _I have the perfect idea. _

_

* * *

Credit to the Jonas Brothers for their awesome song Invisible from the Jonas L.a. Soundtrack. Hmm I wonder what Riley is planning next. _


	14. Not Lonely Anymore

I smoothed the my tank top as I waited outside the wooden door. _Do I really want to do this?_ I saw Joe's face in my mind suddenly all my fears went away. I took a deep breath and knocked quietly.

"Come in." He said quietly. The small desk lamp had a dim glow as he quickly sat up in bed. "Riley, what are you doing here?" He closed a book and moved it to his side table.

"I wanted to spend some time with you, Nick." I gave him a half-smile as I sat down on his quilted bed. He eyed me trying to figure out why I was truly here.

"Okay." He shook all his doubt away and smiled. "What's up?"

"Nothing really. You?"

"Just reading a book." He nodded towards his bedside table. "A slightly boring book though." He added truthfully.

"What's it about?" I picked up the leather bound book and noticed how large it was. I flipped through the pages and saw words I'm sure my father can't pronounce.

"A medical book."

"Do you want to be a doctor too?" He shook his head and frowned at the book.

"No. I'm looking up illnesses."

"For fun?"

"No," He laughed and took the book from my hands, "Here look at the subject heading." He held it out towards me and I looked for the large print.

"Diabetes: Prevention and Treatment. Why are you looking that up?"

"I have it."

"You do?" My hand fluttered to my heart as I saw him nod slowly.

"Yeah, for awhile now. I don't let it slowly me down though." He stared at the book and frowned once again. I skimmed the paragraph for treatment and saw there was no cure. _That's why he's frowning. _"Let's move on to things that aren't depressing." He closed the book and once again put it on his bedside table. "So how are you?" _Horrible. _

"Okay, I guess. It could be better." I wrapped my arms around myself as I felt a sudden chill.

"Here," He peeled back his blankets revealing his flannel pajamas and plain white tee. "It's much warmer under twenty blankets." He smiled as I curled up next to him. We sat there, next to each other, under the covers in silence. He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his chest. "What's wrong?" I buried my face into his chest breathing his scent in.

"I miss you." I murmured as I found his free hand and held it. "I miss being with someone who actually cares for me."

"I miss you too." Nick placed a kiss on the top of my head. I looked up at him and saw how beautiful he was. Inside and out. I placed a kiss on his lips that he quickly returned. I sat in his lap and didn't let his lips leave mine. I placed both hands around his face and deepened the kiss, letting our tongues touch. He removed my tank and moved my chest closer to him. He kissed my neck and chest making me moan. In between kisses I pulled off Nick's shirt to reveal his toned chest and a dog tag. I held the cool sliver charm in my hand turning it over to reveal an engraving. _Nicholas Jonas, Diabetes. "_It let's people know I'm sick. Broken." I ran my fingers over the engraving, trying to change what it says. Nick doesn't deserve to suffer.

"You're not broken. You're perfect." I stared into his deep brown eyes and smiled. I shrugged off my bra and I saw Nick blush in the dim light.

"I love you Riley."

"I love you too." We kissed again and lust filled us. Everything that happened before suddenly vanished from my mind. The only thing I could think of was Nick. We laid there in bed in nothing but our underwear, just kissing. His hands explored my body this time, making me blush. We slipped off our underwear and continued our exploration. We left no area untouched. I laid in bed trying to slow my rapid breathing. _No wonder Nick plays piano, he's great with his hands. _Nick currently was using his skilled fingers to rummage through his side table drawers. "Lose something?" I rolled over and placed my head on his lower stomach.

"I'm looking for protection." He placed a kiss on my forehead and went back to the drawers. "Here we go!" He rolled onto his side as I propped myself up on my elbow. He placed something on top of his book a few seconds later and faced me. "Ready?" We both grinned as I nodded.

"Is this your first time?" He nodded slowly in embarrassment. "Then let's make it fun." I pulled him on top of me as he smirked. And it was fun. Nick was amazing. His fingers aren't the only skilled thing he has. I rested my head by his bellybutton and swallowed.

"I'm sorry, " He placed his hand on my hip. "I should've told you before I, well I, you know-" I stopped him with a kiss.

"It's okay." I smiled and he nodded. "I love you."

"I love you too." He wrapped his arms around me as I rested my head on his chest. He started humming a song. I tried my hardest to stay awake. I closed my eyes focusing on Nick's humming. _I'm not lonely anymore. _

_

* * *

My oh my. What has Riley done to herself? She's slept with half of the Jonas boys and doesn't seem to be regretting it. Yet. Wonder what rash and impulsive thing she will do now. _


	15. A lot More Than Snogging

The lake was calmer than usual. Nothing rippled it's sparkling water, except for the occasional person swimming. _It's always calm before a storm._My eyes scanned over the large green mountains looking for any sign of an upcoming storm. White puffy clouds filled the horizon giving the day an almost fake look. It looks like the background of a computer,a bright blue sky filled with white perfect clouds.

"Admiring the scenery?" Nick questioned as he placed a sweet kiss on my lips.

"Yes, and I think it just got much better." I smiled and pulled him in for another kiss. Before our lips could meet again water splashed us. I shrieked and looked around looking for the culprit. I saw Joe smirk and move onto the sandy shore.

"My bad. There was a bee." He shrugged and continued on his route to talk to Vanessa. My eyes followed him as I scowled. He's been like this since Nick and I went open with our relationship 3 days ago. He's been 'accidently' running into Nick, always showing up when Nick and I want alone time, and he's even tried to compete with us by trying to make out with Vanessa. I know he's jealous that I have Nick, but he hasn't done anything about it. He complains and does stupid childish things, but that's not good enough.

"Excuse my bonehead brother, now where were we?" Nick pulled me into him and I couldn't help but smile.

"Right. About. Here." I pressed my lips against his and deepened the kiss. _I hope this makes you happy, Joe. _Nick and I spent a few minutes on the shore kissing.

"I hate to go, but I promised Frankie we would go out on a ride together. He loves using the wave runner." Nick smiled and glanced at his little brother snapping on his lifejacket. "We'll be back in no more than 30 minutes. Then maybe we can go on a ride?"

"Sure, I'd love too! As long as you don't dunk us." He chuckled and placed a kiss on my cheek as he headed off towards the blue and black wave runner Frankie was already on. I wove to them as they headed out and sighed. _What to do now? _I sat on one of the larger rocks by lake and watched other families on the lake zoom by on their own wave runners and the occasional jet ski. I pulled my knees to my chest and focused back onto the little beach we were camped out at. Vanessa was under a huge yellow umbrella, trying not to ruin her tan. Kevin and Danielle were in each others arms cuddling and laughing. Mr. and Mrs. Jonas went for a little hike leaving just their towels and car keys behind. _Where's Joe?_ My eyes scanned the area looking for him. I finally saw him on the water lying on an inter-tube. As much as I wanted to turn my attention back to the zooming vehicles, I couldn't. I couldn't help but admire his toned body. I bit my lip as I imagined running my hands across his wet, glistening abs. How his muscular arms would wrap around my waist and pull me into him. How his kiss would tickle my jaw because of his 5'o clock shadow. My mind went on a frenzy imagining what could happen if it was just us two on the beach. We would shed our little clothing and run our hands over each others body leaving nothing to the imagination. We would have passionate sex in the water not caring what would happen next. A smirk would appear on his lips when I moan his name and tell him to go faster. I tried to shake the thoughts away and tried to focus on anything but that. Joe met my gaze and smirked like he knew what was going on in my head. I rolled my eyes as he shook his head. He motioned subtly for me to go over there. I mouthed no and quickly averted my eyes. I couldn't help but look at him and saw he was still motioning. I felt myself move down the rock and onto the water. _I'm not going to do anything with him. I'm just going to go push him off his inter-tube, laugh, and swim back. _I swam out to where he was, the smirk still wasn't off his face. "What do you want?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Then why did you call me out here? It's kinda a long way from the rock to here." I rested my hands on his tube to stay afloat.

"Poor baby. You're doing something other than snogging on my brother."

"Snogging? Are we in _Harry Potter_?" I pretended to be offended as I splashed water on him.

"Hey, don't splash me for telling the truth!" I devilish grin crossed my face. "No! Come on Riley, be nice!" I used all my strength to flip him over. At the last second he grabbed my arm pulling me under with him. We surfaced in the middle of the tube laughing. "I told you not to do it."

"Here let me fix your hair," I laughed as I pushed his hair out of his eyes and smoothed it out. I lowered my gaze for second and noticed Joe was staring at me. "There you go." I lowered my hand quickly and it hit his chest. _Why is the space in the middle of an inter-tube so small? _"I'm sorry." I stuttered as I let my hand brush against where I hit him.

"No problem." His eyes didn't leave my face. My mind flashed back to my daydream.

"What if they see?"

"They won't."He pressed his lips against mine. I instantly cupped his head and kissed him back harder. I let his tongue enter my mouth as he groped my breasts. I undid the knot around my neck on my bikini top letting him grope my bare breasts. "Wait, let's swim over to the rocks over there," He nodded towards the left side. "No one will see us for sure." I nodded and loosely knotted my top. I took a deep breath and followed Joe underwater. We came up for air and continued swimming to the now closer, secluded rocks. _Why am I doing this?It's never going to work with Joe. Why am I wasting my time 'snogging' with him when I have Nick?_ We got to shallow water and walked into the middle of the huge boulders. He pressed me up against the hard surface picking up where we left off. My top ended up on a small rock and Joe's hands took its place. I let my hands run across his abs and down to the waistband of his trunks. I hesitated, my old thoughts reappearing in my mind. I put those aside and let my hand wander further down his trunks. He moaned as I stroked him. I also noticed he became harder in my hands.

"What do you want me to do?" I whispered and placed my hands around his neck. He answered by kissing me deeply.

"Anything." He whispered in the middle of our kisses. I switched places with him and pulled down his trunks so they floated in the shallow water. I placed kisses on waist and moved down lower and lower. I placed a kiss on the tip and put him fully in my mouth. He moaned as let my mouth move up and down him. He involuntarily thrust a couple times and causing me to gag a bit. This sent him over the edge and he came in my mouth. I swallowed and wrapped my arms around the panting Joe. "That was great." He said a little out of breath with a smile on his face. I kissed his cheek and returned the smile. "Now let me make you feel good." He smirked as he tugged my bottoms down. He nibbled on my ear as he pressed my back against the rough rock. He spread my legs apart and positioned himself. Before anything could happen I heard the sound of an engine. A wave runner maybe. _Nick! What if that's him?_

"I hear something Joe."

"I'm sure it's nothing."

"It sounds like a wave runner. What if it's Nick?"

"He won't be able to get in here or see us. We're safe." Before I could object he started kissing my neck. "It feels too good to stop now." I nodded as he picked up where we left off. It was like a scene out of my daydream. The smirk was real now as I moaned his name. Right as we reached our high the same noise came by again. I looked out in between the rocks towards the open lake and saw a curly haired kid on a black and blue wave runner. _Oh my God. _

"Joe! It's him it's Nick." Fear flickered through his eyes as we pulled apart and quickly pulled up our bath suits. My heart pounded in chest. _How could I do this? I love Nick, how could I have sex with his brother? _"Joe, where's my top?" I looked towards the small rock in horror. It wasn't there.

"Crap, it must've floated away."

"Floated away? I sort of need it. I think people would notice." He moved out of sight as my chest heaved up and down in panic. Tears filled my eyes as I thought of Nick. How could I be such a jerk? I had sex with Nick and told him I loved him only to have sex with Joe three days later. Joe came back with my blue striped top in his hands.

"It was on the other side. Here," He handed me the top and I put it on slowly as tears fell down my cheeks. "Riley? What's wrong?" He pulled me into his chest and I buried my face in it. "This was a mistake wasn't it? We shouldn't have done this. I should've stopped it. I'm so stupid. Nick won't find out I swear. This is all because of hormones. Riley, if he finds out I'll take the blame. I called you over and kissed you. This is all my fault. Please don't cry." He kissed the top of my head. I've never seen this side of Joe before. He's willing to take the blame and ruin his relationship with Vanessa. He's never done this before. _He still loves me. _

"It's our fault. It takes two right?"

"No this is my fault. If Nick or anyone else finds out, it's solely on my shoulders. I seduced you," He smiled and I weakly returned it, "You have nothing to worry about. I'll take all of Nick's wrath and Vanessa's. I promise." I nodded as we swam back to shore. No one seemed noticed we were even gone. Nick smiled at me from the wave runner and I tried to return it.

"Where have you been? I've been waiting for our ride."

"Joe showed this really cool rock, boulder place. It really hurt my feet." I smiled as Nick looked at me strangely trying to figure out if that's what really happened. _He knows. He saw us. _

"I think I know the place. I should of showed it to you before. Well now we can drive past it." He kissed me and it felt different. It was a good kiss, but it felt like..._it was the wrong person. _I climbed onto the wave runner and quickly found Joe staring at me. I shook my head slightly letting him know Nick knew nothing. He nodded and sat down by Vanessa. We drove away and all I could think about was Joe. How he really stepped up to the plate. I rested my head against Nick's back and I felt the tears sting my eyes. _I can't believe I'm doing this to him. I'm stringing him along. I love him, but it's not anything like how I love Joe. _

_

* * *

Sorry it's taken me soo long to put something up. School is taking up so much of time, but I'll try to update soon! Hope you guys like, I wrote it awhile go and I couldn't help myself by adding this thing in. Riley is a bad girl, wonder what's going to happen next. _


	16. Whiskey Dreams

I don't think I've ever hated myself as much as I do now. I did something so hurtful to Nick and he doesn't even know. He has no idea that while he was off with Frankie, I was off with Joe. I was with Joe having sex not thinking about the repercussions. I acted on lust and the fear of never being with Joe again. What makes me feel even worse is Joe and I weren't safe. We didn't use a condom and I'm not on the pill. The possibility of Nick finding out what we did kills me, but not as much as the thought of a baby. _How could I be so reckless? _If Nick finds out, he'll hate me. Hell, I hate me right now. I love Nick don't I? If I do then why did I eagerly run into Joe's arms? _Because I'm a slut_. I told Nick I loved him and had sex with him and turned right around and had sex with Joe. Everything lately has been so confusing and I guess I've felt unloved so I ran into the arms of guys who showed me attention. _That's a crappy excuse, but better than 'I don't know'. _I acted on whims and infatuations, and now I have to live with it. I'm going to make sure Nick never finds out about what happened on the lake. I'm going to focus on not being a selfish slut and showing Nick how much I care for him.

I've avoided Joe the past day. He's been trying to talk to me, but I make an excuse and leave. I don't trust myself with him and I don't want to do anymore things I'm going to regret. My fling with Joe is done, finished. My only relationship is with Nick and I'm determined to make it work. I don't want to lose him even though I don't even deserve him. I brought my knees to my chest and rested my head on them. I sighed as the hatred for myself kept me up. I closed my eyes focusing on the steady rhythm of the wind outside hoping it would lull me to sleep. Before I could slip fully into my dreams, I heard the door creak open. My eyes flew open and studied the dark figure coming towards me. It smelled like cologne, smoke, and alcohol. It ran into the drum set and I heard him mutter something under his breath.

"Joe?" I whispered staring at the figure that moved towards the window.

"Yes it's me." He slurred as the moonlight confirmed it. He looked ragged as he swayed side to side in an effort to stay in one place.

"What are you doing here?" I said harshly as I flipped the lamp on. He moved his hands in front of his eyes to block out the dim light.

"I need to talk to you." He pointed a finger at me as he stumbled forward running into my bag. "Crap. Why is there so much stuff in this room? There's so much stuff I run into it." I gave him a confused look as he continued walking towards me finally taking a seat next to me in bed.

"Joe, get out."

"No, I want to talk to you." My face scrunched up in disgust as I realized there was whiskey on his breath.

"You're drunk aren't you?"

"No, no. I'm not drunk, I'm-I'm buzzed. Big difference." He tried moving towards me but I pushed him away.

"You're drunk. Of course you are, it's your bachelor party." I rubbed my eyes in frustration.

"Hell yeah it is. Had a hell of a time. We had hell of a good drinks. And hell of-"

"Stop saying that."

"Saying what?"

"Just stop talking." I snapped as I got out of bed and paced slightly.

"Oh, I see someone is on their period. Or as I call it, the Vanessa Week. You know why I call it that? Cause it's when every other girl acts as bad as Vanessa. You don't even want to know what I say when Vanessa has hers. It's called the Bi-"

"I'm not on my period. I'm frustrated. Why did you come into my room?"

"Cause I thought you'd understand. If I walk into my room and Vanessa sees me-"

"Or smells you." He gave me a glare before he continued.

"She'd go nuts and complain. And I don't want to deal with that."

"Why don't you just sleep on the couch?"

"It's not comfy."

"And my bed is?"

"Yes it is. I remember it was really comfy when we had sex. The first time, not the second time."

"Shut up."

"What? Did you forget already? It's only been a day since we had our little tryst on the beach." He closed his eyes and a smile soon appeared on his lips. "That was fun."

"No it wasn't. We shouldn't have done it."

"Don't say it wasn't fun. I remember you moaning and telling me to go faster and harder." I blushed and quickly avoided his gaze. "You had fun. And you should've. It was great. Best sex I've ever had. You too right? Or is Nick better than me?"

"What?" I stared at him with wide eyes.

"He told me you guys did it. Told me the morning after while you did your walk of shame. I didn't have the heart to tell him I was your first."

"And you'll never tell him. Everything that's happened between us is in the past. I love Nick now."

"If you 'love' Nick, then what were you thinking about while sitting on rock?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie. You were thinking about me. Thinking of what we could do on the beach if we were alone. Don't deny it cause I was thinking the same thing."

"Fine. I was thinking that, but I'm not thinking about it anymore. We're done."

"So are you saying if," He swayed a bit as he got up and walked towards me,"I kiss you, you won't kiss back?" He leaned in and at the last minute I moved.

"I won't. You're going to be a married man soon and I'm going to be in steady relationship with Nick."

"What if he finds out what we did?"

"He won't. If you tell him, I promise to make your life a living hell."

"Harsh much?" I glared at him and he sat back down on the bed. "Tell me one thing."

"What?"

"Do you still love me?" I stood there speechless, avoiding his gaze.

"Why do you care?" I mentally kicked myself for saying such a bad comeback.

"Because I still love you." That was the first sentence he's said all night that didn't sound altered by alcohol. "I've always loved you. I'm still going to love you, even if you date my brother. Nothing is going to change that."

"How bout a wedding?" He stared at me and lowered his gaze. "I love you Joe. But I can't be in a relationship with someone if we have to sneak around. Nick is a good guy and he loves me. He's not afraid to tell people that too."

"Things can change."

"For both of us. I'm tired, can we stop arguing and just go to bed?"

"Sure. But I'm staying here."

"Fine. I hope you like sleeping on the floor."

"I'm already on the bed." He smiled as he removed his jacket and shirt.

"What are you doing?"

"I can't sleep with a shirt on. I never do."

"Whatever. Move" I got under the covers and rested my body on the side closest to the wall. I turned my attention back to Joe to see him unzipping his pants."What are you doing now!"

"Chill. Skinny jeans aren't comfortable to sleep in. They're too tight." I gave him a dirty look as he climbed into bed next to me. He clicked the lamp off and sighed. "Goodnight Riley."

"Goodnight." I whispered harshly as I turned onto my side to face the wall.

* * *

*Joe's POV*

I laid in bed ignoring my throbbing headache. _Whiskey is killer. _I sighed and thought of the last time I was in this bed. That afternoon was amazing. I smiled to myself as I remembered every detail. How Riley's hair spilled over her shoulders like blonde waves. How beautiful she looked with that yellow sundress on. And off. Riley's murmur shook me out of my flashback. I stared at her sleeping body. Most people look calm while asleep, but she doesn't. It seems like she's uncomfortable or upset. She murmured something else and frowned. Her chest moved up and down faster as her lip quivered. _Is she going to cry?_ Two tears sparkled in the moonlight as they fell down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry!" She cried out and continued to sob.

"Riley?"

"I'm sorry Nick! I didn't mean to do this. To hurt you." _She's dreaming about him. _Jealousy filled me as I tried to tune her out. _Let him comfort her now. _"I love you Nick. I really do." My jaw clenched and I balled up my fists in anger. "I love you. But not as much as him." I quickly faced her waiting for her to continue. "I love Joe. I love him so much, but it doesn't matter anymore. He has someone else. Someone better."

"She's not better." I found myself saying as I wiped her tears away with my thumbs.

"Yes she is. Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying." Her eyes were still shut but her tears stopped. I brushed the hair out of her face and gently cupped her cheek. "I love you." She found comfort in my touch. Her breathing returned to normal and she looked peaceful now. I laid back down trying to figure out what just happened. Before I could ponder the thought fully, Riley rolled over and rested her head on my chest. I put my arm around her slender shoulders and hugged her closer to my body. I love her so much. Why couldn't I have met her first? Why couldn't we have a normal relationship with normal dates and no complications? She's determined to love my brother now even though it's obvious she still loves me. I stared at her and knew what I had to do. _It's finally the right time. _

_

* * *

Riley 'slept' with Joe once again, but she doesn't seem too happy about it. She has two Jonas boys vying for her love and she's made her choice. And Joe has made his. Too bad they don't match. But maybe dreams do come true..._


	17. Morning Thunderstorms

The light tapping of rain on the window woke me up. I quickly shut my eyes and forced myself back to sleep. _It feels way too early to be awake._Joe's light snoring reminded me what happened last night. He came in drunk, we argued, and I let him spend the night with me. Nothing happened though. I did have a strange dream involving Nick and then Joe. It felt so real too, I swear I could feel Joe caress my cheek. I let my mind go blank and focus on Joe's steady breathing. I felt myself fall back into my dreams. Before anything could take place, a loud creak filled the room. I opened one eye and saw someone standing by the door. I focused my sight on them and saw Nick staring at me with an expression of shock and disappointment.

"Nick?" I whispered, hoping he was nothing but a figment of my imagination.

"How could you?" His cheeks reddened in anger as I sat up in bed. _This is real. _

"Nothing happened. I swear."

"Then explain that." He said harshly as he nodded towards Joe. As I sat up, the blankets moved off him and displayed his nearly naked body.

"Nick, nothing happened." I moved out of bed, waking Joe up as I did. "He was drunk last night and didn't want to face Vanessa. He wouldn't leave and I got tired of arguing and just let him stay. We did nothing."

"I can't believe you."

"Why not? I'm looking you in the eye and telling you exactly what happened.I'm not lying." I cried as I tried to get him to look at me. He refused to and my tears fell freely now. "Why can't you trust me? Nothing happened. If anything, we realized we can't be together. I love you Nick." I went for his hand but he quickly moved it.

"You have a funny way of showing it. How could you let him sleep in the same bed as you, let alone just in his boxers?"

"He said he never sleeps with a shirt on and skinny jeans are uncomfortable. I tried to convince him to sleep on the couch-"

"Then why didn't he?" He cut me off with a harsh tone. I've never seen Nick so angry.

"He complained about it being lumpy and uncomfortable too."

"Why did he choose your bed then?"

"I guess it's comfy."

"How does he know your bed is com-" He stopped mid-sentence and gave me a look of pure disgust. "You've slept with him? You've slept with him in this room haven't you?" I looked away from him as my tears fell harder. My chin quivered as I slowly nodded my head. "You've had sex with him? When? Before we got together or after?"

"Before." I took a deep breath and added, "And after."

"What?" He yelled searching my face for answers. "How could you? You said you love me and then you sleep with my brother? Explain yourself." He commanded as he took a step back moving away from me.

"Nick, it wasn't her fault. I knew she felt something for you, but I called her over and kissed her. It went from there." Joe spoke up as put himself between Nick and I.

"I wasn't talking to you. I want to hear from Riley herself what happened."

"Nick, don't do this to he-"

"Shut up. Tell me what happened Riley." Nick commanded. They had a stare down. Joe didn't move from his protective spot. I gave him slight nod before I began to tell our secret.

"It was at the lake. When you were out with Frankie riding the wave runner-"

"You were riding Joe." Nick said harshly.

"Nick I'm sorry. I didn't plan on it and I regret it. I regret it cause I know this hurts you. I'm so sorry."

"Save your apologies." He hissed back as I wiped a few tears out of my eyes.

"Nick calm down. She apologized. I'm apologizing too. It was a mistake, a huge mistake. I promise you it will never happen again."

"I don't care if it happens again. I'm done with you Riley. Now you can have sex with Joe and you'll only hurt your sister."

"Nick don't do this. You love me and I love you." I moved towards him and he recoiled towards the door.

"You don't love me. If you did, you wouldn't have slept with Joe." I placed a hand over mouth, trying to stifle my sobs. _None of this should've happened. This is all my fault. _

"Nick, don't end your relationship like this. You've really hurt her. At least give her a proper goodbye."

"No! You don't get to give me relationship advice. Especially when it comes to the relationship you ruined."

"It wasn't planned. It just happened. We acted on lust and stupidity. We didn't come up with a plan to hurt you. If it's anyones fault, it's mine. Don't be angry with Riley." Joe moved towards Nick, in an attempt to reason with him.

"It's takes two to have sex. You both have an equal role! I'm angry with both of you. You're my brother how could you betray me like this?"

"Betray you?" Joe's voice went up higher. "You're the one who started something with her when you knew we had a relationship."

"You mean an affair? Cause that's what is was! You're getting married tomorrow Joe. Did you really think what you have with Riley would be anything but an affair?"

"Yes I do. You know why? Cause I actually love her. I wouldn't do anything to hurt her."

"You think marrying her sister isn't going to hurt her?" They got into each other's faces and I saw Joe's fists ball up.

"Joe, please calm down." I said weakly. He faced me and sighed.

"Sorry," He murmured as he started walking back to where I was standing.

"Yeah, go back to your slutty mistress." Before I could react to Nick's hurtful words, Joe's fist met Nick's jaw. "What the-" Nick massaged his jaw slightly as fury filled his eyes. His fist met Joe's stomach, knocking the wind out of Joe. Joe quickly rebounded and hit Nick in the same spot on the jaw.

"Stop! Guys please stop!" I cried as I made my way towards them. "Joe, Nick stop." I got in the middle of them and pushed Joe back. Before I could get him far, I felt stinging pain move up left jaw to my ear. I fell onto the floor and brought a hand to my throbbing face.

"Oh my gosh, Riley! I didn't mean to. I swear. I thought you were Joe." Nick said quickly as he tried to see if I was okay.

"Just get out."

"But-"

"Get out now!" I yelled in between fresh tears. This time the tears were caused by physical pain. Nick slipped out and Joe kneeled down on floor.

"Riley, are you alright?" He touched my good side and instead of comfort I found more frustration.

"No, I'm not. Nick broke up with me, called me a slut, and punched in the face. I'm not okay." I snapped back.

"Let me help you." Joe pleaded as he tried to look at my jaw.

"No. Get out. You've caused me pain too."

"Riley, I didn't mean too. I'm going to make it up to you. I'm b-"

"Get. Out!" I screamed. Joe sighed and left. As soon as he was gone, I let myself openly cry. Cry about what happened with Nick. Cry about Joe. Cry about the pain coming from my jaw. Cry about everything and anything. _When did my life become so unbearable? _

_

* * *

Nick found out about his loving girlfriend's affair with his brother. He doesn't take it too well and fists fly. Too bad his fist hit Riley's jaw. Riley also cuts Joe off before he can say something important. She might regret that too. _


	18. Bruises and Healing Words

It felt like days I spent in my room waiting for the rehearsal dinner. Mrs. Jonas came in to check on me soon after the fight ended. I had to make up a bogus lie about Joe and Nick arguing about borrowed money. didn't buy it, but left me alone. I had no desire to talk to anyone else, so I spent the day in my room doing some of the assignments gave me at the beginning of the week. She's a great home school teacher but gives killer essays, worse than the SAT. I struggled on the responses till around 4 and soon began to get ready for the dinner. I don't know what saddened me more, seeing Joe and Nick or seeing Joe go through on marrying my sister. I slipped into my pink strapless silk dress and gold flats. I spent a good half-hour trying to cover up the nasty bruise already appearing on my jaw. _Great, another thing to explain. _I groaned and walked out to meet the rest of my family. Mom and Dad got in this morning and didn't even say hello to me. They now paced the Jonas living room in excitement for this evening. _Their little girl was finally getting married_.

"Hi Mom and Dad." They turned their heads to face me and their eyes went straight to my jaw.

"Riley! What happened?" My Mother cried as she rushed across the room to get a better look at it. Nick's eyes flashed towards me and widened when he saw the bruise he left.

"I fell. In the bathroom. I hit it against the sink." She placed a finger on it and I winced in pain.

"George, come look at this." _Wait, are they actually caring about me?_ "Do you think this will show up in pictures?" My heart dropped and I felt even more pain.

"It might," He shook his head in disappointment, "You should be more careful Riley. Did you put cover up on it? Or ice it at least?"

"I put tons of cover up on. I didn't ice it though."

"What did Riley do now?" Vanessa's voice rang through the living room. "Oh my gosh! You're going to ruin the pictures!" She smoothed the wrinkles out on her little black dress, in anger. "Why couldn't you have been a graceful person like me?" She pouted as I grit my teeth as hard as I could. I winced again from the intense pain I caused by doing this. "Joe's going to have to look at you before we go and we are already late!"

"I heard my name." Joe smirked as he stood behind Vanessa. I lost my breath when I saw how gorgeous he looked. He was wearing a classic black tux with a blood red shirt underneath. His straightened hair fell into his eyes making him look more like a model than a doctor.

"Riley was a klutz and bruised her whole jaw. She's going to ruin the pictures, unless you can do something." She whined as she hugged him close.

"Don't worry babe, I can help. I'm a doctor aren't I?" He whispered with his signature smile as he hugged her back. I bit my lip trying to ignore the pain in my heart. "It's getting late. You guys should head out and Riley and I will come later. We can make a fashionably late entrance."

"You sure? If you can't fix her, we can just leave her here. You'd be fine with that right Ri?" She gave me a devilish smile as she wrapped her arms around Joe's waist.

"Of course. I'm sure no one would miss me." I said truthfully avoiding everyone's gaze.

"I'm sure I can help. Now you guys should get going traffic is going to bad because of this storm. I'll have Riley looking and feeling better in no time." Everyone nodded and made their way to the cars. I left the room as soon as possible and went out onto the porch. Sitting out on a covered porch during a rainstorm is better than dealing with my family and soon-to-be family in-law. I sat on the hard wooden bench and waved weakly to the leaving cars. Vanessa sent me one last evil glare before they turned onto the road. "I think you're the only person who would sit outside during a storm."

"Beats my family." He stayed quite for a long time trying to figure out what to say. "They didn't even say hi to me when they got here. Most parents would hug and kiss their child after they've been separated for a good two months. Not them. They only noticed me because of my stupid bruise." I said bitterly while staring at the rain that was hitting the wind chimes. "Why can't they love me?" I cried as my own personal rain flowed down my cheeks. "Matter of fact, why can't anybody love me? Right now everyone hates me or doesn't give a damn about me!" I yelled letting all my anger out. "I know lately I've done things I'm not proud of, but still can't there be one person who loves and cares for me? Am I that horrible that people can't get close to me?" My chest heaved up and down from the sobs I tried to contain.

"You don't really think that do you?"

"I do. You know what, I do. I've always thought this." I faced Joe and knew I looked like a mess.

"You're an amazing person and it's shame your parents don't notice that. And you can't look at me and truthfully say there isn't one person that doesn't love you. I love you Riley. I love everything about you. The way you care for people even if they don't deserve your kindness, the look you give me when I'm being cocky, how when you smile at me I melt inside. I even love the way you wash dishes." He grinned remembering our first kiss.

"I appreciate that, but it doesn't matter. You can't love me and be married to my sister. It doesn't work like that. You're going to have to choose and I think I know who you're going with."

"I'm choosing the smartest, the kindest, and the most beautiful girl in the world," _Vanessa. _"You."

"What?" I stared at him with a dumbfounded look.

"I'm choosing you Riley Adams. That's if you still want me."

"But what about Vanessa? Our families? They're going to be so angry wi-" He placed a finger on my lips.

"You told me I shouldn't care about that. And I don't. I want you Riley and no one else. I want to be the one person in your life that loves and cares for you. I love you."

"I love you too." He brought me into a hug and I rested my head against his shoulder, never wanting to let go.

"How about we go to that rehearsal dinner and I do what I should've done along time ago?" I smiled and nodded thrilled with the idea of Joe finally being mine and no one else's.

"What's going to happen afterwards?"

"Your family will hate me. They'll probably take you guys back home. I'll drive back soon to get my things. Hopefully I'll have a place to stay by then. After things get back to normal, we can go public."

"Am I even going to see you?" _I finally have Joe, but I won't get to see him. _

"Of course. I'd go crazy if we couldn't see each other for that long. We'll have to sneak around, but I'm determined to see you. We'll call, text, and email in between." He grinned and squeezed me tighter.

"Is this our last moment together for awhile?" I couldn't help but notice how sad my tone was.

"Probably. At least for a week or so." He sounded just as sad. I looked into his deep brown eyes and smiled before I placed a kiss on his perfect lips. He placed a hand on my neck and deepened the kiss. We sat there making out, trying to make the best out of our last moment together. Before things could get too heated he pulled away and sighed. His lips were red and a little puffy from our constant kissing. I smiled and caressed his cheek. He placed a couple kisses on my palm, before standing up. "We should go. I don't want to, but we should." I nodded and followed him back inside to grab his keys. I stood shivering in the doorway from the temperature change. "Here," Joe shrugged off his jacket and placed it over my shoulders.

"Thank you." I instantly put it on and sighed with pleasure at its warmth. He smiled and led us to the altima. We climbed in getting ready to go the dinner. A dinner that will change everyones lives and for once it will change my life for the good.

* * *

_Joe's going to break things off with Vanessa and makes things official with Riley. Finally a happy ending for Riley, but how will Vanessa react to her little sister stealing her man and ruining her wedding? I'm thinking not well. _


	19. Drunk Daggers

I've never been on a car ride that felt so long yet, so short at the same time. I was excited that Joe was finally breaking things off with Vanessa, but I dreaded being away from him. Ever since he's been introduced to me we haven't spent a day apart. We've been with each other 24/7, which cause problems at certain times. But now I want nothing but to be with Joe because he's finally going to be mine. He's choosing me, someone is finally choosing me. Joe gave my hand a squeeze before we pulled into the restaurants parking lot. As soon as we walk through those doors everything will be flung into chaos. Bittersweet chaos.

"I love you so much." He whispered into my ear as the doors flew open to our reserved area. Before I could respond he already made a beeline for Vanessa who was chatting with two of her sorority sisters. My eyes lingered on him before I grabbed a seat next to my mother. She didn't notice me or she didn't care because she kept cooing over how happy she was for the wedding. I spotted my father by the bottle of red wine, more than likely refilling his oversized glass. He too ignored my presence. My eyes flew back to Joe and I saw he was leading Vanessa to an empty area.

"Riley?" I threw my head over my shoulder to see Nick standing there with an unreadable expression.

"Nick." I toyed with the back of my earring nervously.

"Can I speak to you in private?"

"Sure, can we make it quick?" He nodded as I pushed out my chair and walked to one of the windows. "What do you want to talk to me about?"

"I'm sorry!" He blurted out and quickly ran a hand through his curls in embarrassment. "This morning was a bit of a disaster. I said and did a lot of things I didn't mean."

"You thought about a couple of the ideas though. They just don't appear randomly in your head, they come from somewhere. I deserved a lot of what you said. I did a horrible thing and I really regret it. The last couple of weeks have been crazy. It was a time of discovering who I truly love and-"

"It's not me."

"No. I mean yes, but I didn't want it to come out so blunt and hurtful. I'm sorry I toyed with your emotions."

"I sort-of knew you were always going to chose him. I just hoped you wouldn't. I guess I couldn't resist a beautiful girl who showered me with attention." He smiled weakly and stared at his shoes.

"I guess I couldn't resist being with a gorgeous and talented musician," I lifted up his chin gently and grinned, "I do love you. And if we met first without any drama-"

"You'd chose me?"

"Absolutely." He smiled and nodded his head.

"Is he choosing you?" I nodded and moved my gaze to the rain streaking across the window. "Well I wish you guys luck. There's going to be a lot of hate and disapproval, but I support you guys. I've never seen my brother so dedicated to a girl. He truly loves you."

"Thank you. That must've been really hard."

"You have no idea." He said with a dry forced laugh. "I should go sit back down." He motioned to an empty chair beside his father.

"Wait," I placed a small kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for being my friend."

"No problem. I'm always here for you Riley. If things don't work out with Joe, I'm sure I know another Jonas brother who would love to be your boyfriend." We both made our ways back to the our seats. Instantly my eyes scanned the dark corner where Joe and Vanessa were. Now they looked like they were arguing. Vanessa was smoothing out the wrinkles on her dress, something she does in anger while Joe ran a hand through his hair.

"Oh Riley, when did you get here? Oh my, Joe couldn't fix your cheek could he? Why didn't he leave you home like we said?"

"I got here awhile ago Mother. No he couldn't, I vowed to stay out of pictures." I said calmly trying to keep my cool.

"We are supposed to be getting married tomorrow? How could you do this to me?" A loud sobbing yell echoed throughout the restaurant. Everyone stopped chatting and focused in on Joe and Vanessa. He whispered something to her which cause her to yell again, "I don't care if they are looking! In fact they should know what's going on." She turned on her heels and faced everyone with her red puffy eyes. "Joe is calling off the wedding. Seems he doesn't actually love me." A collective gasp was heard. I pretended my hardest to be shocked. My mother burst in tears and placed a hand over her mouth to keep in her sobs.

"I can't marry Vanessa tomorrow. Or ever. I realized all along I was in love with someone else. I'm really sorry." Joe piped up as my father stared drunk daggers at him.

"Well you know what? I can't marry you because you're a selfish little jerk. All you care about is yourself and your career. I'm glad I'm longer settling for you. I might as well tell you I've been having an affair with someone."

"Really? Who?" Joe said unamused at her angry antics.

"I've been seeing my ex-boyfriend Ian Salinas. He's a graduate from Yale and actually loves me!" I stared at my sister with wide eyes trying to figure out if she truly meant what she said. I do remember her saying she was going to dinner with Ian awhile ago. _Who knew my sister had a sexy adulteress side to her?_

"Good then you can marry him now." She stared at him with her mouth opened in shock. She quickly turned towards my family.

"Let's go home now! I can't bear to be in the same city as him!" She cried as my Father placed his coat over her protectively. My mother followed them almost in bad as shape as Vanessa. I had to help her out to the lobby. I sent Joe a smile that he quickly returned. _I love you_ I mouthed before stepping out into the cold rain. Mom and I were squeezed into the backseat as Vanessa cried out random things in the passenger seat. "Let's go get our things and go straight home. I just want to go home."

"And we will sweetie. We'll go home where you can forget about that awful man." Dad tried his hardest not to slur his words.

"Dad do you want me to drive, you seem buzz-"

"He doesn't need you Riley! Who needs you?" Vanessa snapped as we pulled out onto the highway. _Joe needs me. _And that thought alone satisfied me enough that I could ignore her snippy comment. I know I should feel bad about my sister being heartbroken, but never in my life has she showed me compassion. Then why should I show her some now? For once I felt happy, genuinely happy. Now I just had to wait to see Joe again. His face alone let me ignore everything said in that car ride. _Joe and I can finally be happy together.

* * *

_

_It's not a dramatic end to a relationship but it's an end. Everything seems picture perfect for Riley right? What if something really dramatic happens? I would like to know if the next chapter should be some fluffy thing that shows how happy Joe and Riley are or one that suddenly exposes Riley and Joe, making way for a sequel. Please tell me! :D_


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